Aluminum alloy article having low roping and methods of making the same

Abstract

Provided herein are aluminum alloys having low roping. Also provided herein are methods to produce aluminum alloys having low roping, which may include subjecting an unrecrystallized aluminum product to an annealing heat treatment at a predefined temperature of less than or equal to 495° C. for a length of time less than or equal to 25 minutes to generate a recrystallized aluminum product.

1 . A method comprising:
 providing an unrecrystallized aluminum product;   subjecting the unrecrystallized aluminum product to an intermediate annealing heat treatment at a predefined temperature of less than or equal to 495° C. for a length of time less than or equal to 25 minutes to generate a recrystallized aluminum product;   subjecting the recrystallized aluminum product to a cold rolling process to generate a cold rolled aluminum product; and   subjecting the cold rolled aluminum product to a solution heat treatment to generate a dual-recrystallized aluminum product.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined temperature is from 320° C. to 495° C. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined temperature is from 340° C. to 485° C. and the length of time is less than or equal to 10 minutes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined temperature is from 350° C. to 475° C. and the length of time is less than 1 minute. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined temperature is from 370° C. to 470° C. and the length of time is from 2 seconds to 35 seconds. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cold rolling process achieves a cold reduction from 55% to 75%, from 25% to 90%, from 45% to 95%, or from 60% to 99%. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product exhibits a surface arithmetical mean height (Sa) of at most 0.50 μm. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product exhibits an f10% bending value of at most 0.55 in a transverse direction. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product exhibits an f15% bending value of at most 0.70 in a transverse direction. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product exhibits a uniform elongation of at least 21%. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the dual-recrystallized aluminum product is from 1.00 mm to 3.5 mm. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product comprises an average precipitate size of from 0.05 μm to 0.5 μm. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein undissolved precipitates occupy an area fraction of from 0% to 1% of the dual-recrystallized aluminum product. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein microvoids occupy an area fraction of from 0% to 0.3% of the dual-recrystallized aluminum product. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dual-recrystallized aluminum product exhibits a conductivity of from 25 mΩ/m to 40 mΩ/m. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined temperature is at most 350° C. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the length of time is at most five minutes or at most one minute. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate annealing heat treatment comprises passing the unrecrystallized aluminum product through a furnace at a speed of from 10 m/min to 200 m/min, heating the unrecrystallized aluminum product using a magnetic heating process, and/or heating the unrecrystallized aluminum product by passing through a gas-fired furnace. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unrecrystallized aluminum product comprises a 6xxx series aluminum alloy or a 7xxx series aluminum alloy. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . A rolled aluminum alloy product comprising:
 a 6xxx series aluminum alloy or a 7xxx series aluminum alloy, wherein an Sa of the 6xxx series aluminum alloy or the 7xxx series aluminum alloy is at most 0.50 μm;   wherein a thickness of the rolled aluminum alloy product is from 1.00 mm to 3.5 mm; and   wherein undissolved precipitates occupy an area fraction of from 0% to 1% of the rolled aluminum alloy product.   
     
     
         28 - 30 . (canceled)