Microstructural evolution of aluminium/Al-Ni-Sm glass forming alloy laminates obtained by Controlled Accumulative Roll Bonding

The current work deals with the early steps of the unprecedented elaboration of aluminium/Al based glass forming alloy laminates by only accumulative rolling at room temperature. The Al1−(x+y)NixSmy metallic glass forming alloy was introduced either in its original amorphous state or after total crystallization. This change of atomic structure, and therefore of both thermal and thermo-mechanical stability and mechanical behaviour, is shown to govern at once the processing parameters, the uniformity of the laminates microstructure and the bond strength at the matrix-reinforcement interfaces. The potential of the process so as to synthesize composite materials with a stable ultrafine structure is finally outlined.