Effect of high temperature annealing and subsequent hot rolling on microstructural evolution at the bond-interface of Al/Mg/Al alloy laminated composites

Using a two-pass hot rolling process, Al(5052)/Mg(AZ31)/Al(5052) alloy laminated composite plates were fabricated. The first pass was performed at relatively low temperatures, and the second pass was performed at higher temperatures. No new phases formed at the bond interface after the first hot rolling pass. High temperature annealing with the annealing temperature at or above 300 °C caused the formation of continuous layers of the intermetallics Mg17Al12 and Al3Mg2 at the bond interface of Al(5052)/Mg(AZ31). The growth rate of the intermetallic layers increased with increasing the annealing temperature, while the incubation time decreased with increasing the temperature. A kinetic equation was developed to describe the growth of the intermetallic compound layers. The second hot rolling pass caused the break of the continuous intermetallic layers into fragments, which were intermittently dispersed at the bond interface.