Texture Control and the Drawability of α-Brass

Abstract

Texture strengthening analyses for cubic metals predict enhanced deep drawing performance with {110} and/or {111} components in the plane of the sheet. Since {110}<112> is the primary texture in heavily cold rolled α-brass, an attempt was made to retain this texture through recovery of the cold rolled material at low temperatures. A second approach is suggested by the observation of the {110} texture in α-brass on annealing ≳600°C (873°K), and involves short time exposures to limit grain size. It is found that low temperature recovery treatments, while partially retaining the rolling texture, produce a hard condition of low drawability. High temperature annealing produces appreciable {110} textural components only at grain sizes too large for many commercial applications. A potentially more tractable approach is discussed.