Rolling behaviour of steel backed spray deposited Al–Sn strip

Steel backed Al–10 wt%Sn strip has been prepared by the spray deposition of the molten Al–Sn alloy on a steel substrate, followed by rolling of the resulting composite strip. In the present paper the rolling behaviour of the composite strip at 473 K, together with the characteristics of the spray deposit have been discussed. It has been shown that the Al–Sn spray deposit is a coalesced network of particles having porosity. The particles in the network are of spherical, ligament and irregular shapes. The study shows that the composite metal strip can be rolled well at 473 K without any delamination or surface and edge cracking on the deposit layer. A rolling thickness reduction of 75% produces steel backed Al–10 wt%Sn strip having optimum properties. During rolling, densification in the deposit, deformation in the deposit and substrate, and bonding between the deposit and the substrate take place simultaneously. The mechanism of densification in the deposit layer during rolling has been discussed on the basis of the examination of the microstructure of the deposit at different stages of rolling.