The development of crystallographic texture during the thermo-mechanical processing of aluminium sheet is known to result in the formation of pronounced plastic anisotropy, including the well-known earing phenomenon. In the present study we track the evolution of texture, microstructure and earing profiles in sheets of Al alloy AA 5050A during down-stream processing according to a process route resulting in temper H16 after cold rolling and temper H44 after lacquering. This process, which includes interannealing followed by a mild final pass of temper rolling, was designed for producing medium-strength sheet with low earing properties. Besides the experimental characterization of the evolution of microstructure, texture and resulting earing profiles along the process chain, means to optimize the processing by adapting the intermediate thickness are addressed.

The development of crystallographic texture during the thermo-mechanical processing of aluminium sheet is known to result in the formation of pronounced plastic anisotropy, including the wellknown earing phenomenon. In the present study we track the evolution of texture, microstructure and earing profiles in sheets of Al alloy AA 5050A during down-stream processing according to a process route resulting in temper H16 after cold rolling and temper H44 after lacquering. This process, which includes interannealing followed by a mild final pass of temper rolling, was designed for producing medium-strength sheet with low earing properties. Besides the experimental characterization of the evolution of microstructure, texture and resulting earing profiles along the process chain, means to optimize the processing by adapting the intermediate thickness are addressed.