Journal of Applied Engineering (JOAE), 2 (1), January-2014 (Volume-II, Issue-I)

ISSN: 2348-4802

Effects of Cold Rolling and Annealing on

The Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Brass
HAFIZ AB DUL AHAD QAZI

Student
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering Department
Mehran Uni versity of Engineeering and Technol ogy, Jamshoro

Email : ahadqazi10@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the effect of cold rolling and annealing on the microstructure of Brass (Cu -Zn alloy) and
mechanical properties of brass after cold ro lling and heat treatment is determined. In this investigation brass was used in the
form of a flat bar with the dimensions 23x60x600 mm. The brass is first subjected to cold rolling 15.8% - 70.2% and then
subjected to annealing (recrystallizat ion) within the temperature range of 300-650 Degree Celsius.

1. INTRODUCTION

Chemical co mposition of the investigated brass:

Components of the Alloy %

Cu Zn Pb Sn Fe Mn Si Al Ni Rest
69.03 30.3 0.01 0.003 0.024 0.001 0.015 0.039 0.001 0.3

As it is noted that mechanical p roperties of metals largely depend on the microstructure for example a metal wh ich has a
fine grained microstructure has good hardness and strength but has low ductility while a metal which has a coarse grained
microstructure has good ductility but has low hardness and strength.

A material is considered to be cold worked if its grains are in a distorted condition after plastic deformat ion is completed at
temperatures less than 40% of the metal’s melting temperature. By research and investigations it is known to us that all the
properties of a metal that are dependent on the lattice structure are affected by cold working. Tensile strength, yield strength
and hardness are increased while ductility as represented by % elongation is d ecreased. During cold working, the gap
between yield and tensile strength decreases because yield strength increases more rapidly than the tensile strength. This
gap is required in certain forming operations where appreciable deformat ion is required. If the gap between yield and
tensile strength is low then very close control of the load is required otherwise facture can occur during service condition
This metallurgical problem can be solved by proper annealing. By proper annealing the effects of cold working such as
increase in hardness and strength etc can be kept control to the desired range.

The mechanical properties of brass depend main ly on the content of zinc and the degree of deformat ion in the course of the
production, but also on the parameters of heat treat ment, particularly the temperature of recrystallization. The investigatio ns
concern the influence of the parameters of recrystallization annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of
the brass CuZn30, cold-deformed in the course of rolling.

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 Journal of Applied Engineering (JOAE), 2 (1), January-2014 (Volume-II, Issue-I)

Table 1: Mechanical properties of Brass before cold ro lling

Yield strength (Mpa) Tensile strength (Mpa) % elongation Hardness(HV)

358 424 23 125

2. RES ULTS DISCUSS ION:

Table 2: Mechanical properties of the tested brass after cold rolling

No Degree of rolling Yield strength Tensile % of Hardness

reduction (Mpa) strength elongation (HV-50)
(Mpa)
1 15.8 % 402 433 21.6 136
2 42.5% 543 577 16.3 165
3 70.2% 644 693 13.4 200

Fro m the Table 2 (above) it is clearly seen that hardness and strength of brass after cold rolling is increased with the % of
cold work while ductility as represented by % elongation is decreased with the % of cold work.

Fig1: M icrostructure of brass before cold rolling. Grains at normal position

Fig :1 Fig :2 Fig :3

Fig2: The microstructure of brass after cold-rolling. Recurrently grains of the alpha solution display paralle l and
intersecting slip bands (cold rolling = 15.8%)

Fig3: The microstructure of brass after cold-rolling. Elongated alpha grains in the solution with parallel slip bands (cold
rolling = 42.5%).

After cold-ro lling with reductions of 15.8-70.2% the microstructure of the brass CuZn30 is characterized by elongated
grains in the solution alpha with corrugated boundaries and effects of plastic strain in the form of parallel intersecting slip
bands (Figs. 2 & 3). In the region of intersection of these bands the microhardness amounts to 132 HV.

Table 3: Results of investigations concerning the mechanical properties of brass after cold rolling and recrystallization
annealing

No Annealing Degree of Yield Tensile % of Hardness

temperature Rolling strength strength Elongation (HV-50)
(Degree Celsius) reduction (Mpa) (Mpa)

1 15.8% 357.8 413.0 26.8 135

2 300 42.5% 377.0 459.0 30.0 147
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 Journal of Applied Engineering (JOAE), 2 (1), January-2014 (Volume-II, Issue-I)

3 70.2% 307.0 452.9 38.5 196

4 15.8% 148.9 363.2 57.0 89.8
5 400 42.5% 163.9 373.2 51.8 93.1
6 70.2% 210.7 403.2 48.4 99.4
7 15.8% 72.8 305.2 81.8 52.1
8 650 42.5% 75.7 304.0 72.8 55.7
9 70.2% 78.5 315.6 65.2 58.9

Fig : 4 Fig :5 Fig :6

Fig4: The microstructure of brass after cold-rolling and recrystallization. Differentiated sizes of the alpha grains in the
solution (cold rolling = 15.8%, recrystallizat ion temperature = 400°C)

Fig5: Recrystallized s mall alpha grains in the solution (cold ro lling = 42.5 %, recrystallizat ion temperature = 400°C)

Fig6: Recrystallized alpha grains in the solution with twin crystals due to annealing (cold rolling = 42.5% recrystallization
temperature = 650°C)

Fro m the resulted table 3 (above) it is clearly seen that the yield and tensile strengths which were increased by cold rolling
are decreasing during annealing. It is also noted that yield strength is decreasing more rapidly than the tensile s trength
therefore the gap between yield strength and tensile strength is increased or simply ductility is increased.

3. CONCLUS ION:

 During cold working the yield strength increases more rapid ly than the tensile strength therefore the gap between yield
and tensile strength becomes narrow making the material hard and brittle and strength is increased while reverse
process occur during annealing making the material soft and ductile.
 Recrystallization annealing of brass CuZn30 with in the temperature range of 400-650°C involves a considerable
deterioration of the mechanical properties and also a considerable increase of p lastic properties .
 The hardness of the investigated brass CuZn30 drops with the decreasing degree of the cold -rolling reduction and the
rising temperature of annealing.
 After cold plastic deformat ion and recrystallization annealing within the investigated range of temperature, the brass
has a fine-grained microstructure of the alpha solutions with characteristic t win crys tals due to annealing.
 The gap area between yield and tensile strength represents the ductility, hardness and toughness of a metal. The large
gap indicates that metal has good toughness while s mall gap indicates that metal has brittleness. During cold working
the gap between yield and tensile strength becomes narrow therefore me tal beco mes hard and brittle and loses its
toughness this metallurgical problem can be solved by proper annealing.

REFERENCES:

[1]. Introduction to Physical metallurgy by Sidney H Avner.

[2]. Materials Science and Engineering by William D. Callister.
[3]. Journal of Achievements in Materials and Manufacturing Eng ineering volu me 40.

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