Grain structure evolution during cryogenic rolling of alpha brass

High-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to study grain structure development during cryogenic rolling of Cu-29.5Zn brass. Microstructure evolution was found to be broadly similar to that occurring during rolling at room temperature. Specifically, favorably-oriented grains (Copper {112} < 111 > and S {123} < 634 > experienced profuse deformation twinning followed by extensive shear banding. This eventually produced an ultrafine structure with a mean grain size of similar to 0.2 mu m. On the other hand, grains with crystallographic orientations close to Brass {110} < 112 > and Goss {110} < 100 > were found to be stable against twinning/shear banding and thus showed no significant grain refinement. As a result, the final structure developed in heavily-rolled material was distinctly inhomogeneous consisting of mm-scale remnants of original grains with poorly developed substructure and ultra-fine grain domains. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.