Investigation of Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior of Three-Layered Brass/Interstitial Free Steel/Brass Composite Manufactured through Cold Roll Bonding Process

In this research, three-layered brass/IF steel/brass composite was manufactured using the cold roll bonding (CRB) process and its mechanical properties and corrosion behavior were evaluated. The results revealed that tensile strength of the composite increased through cold rolling up to 75% thickness reduction and reached values two times greater than that of the raw materials, and then, decreased with the increase in thickness reduction to 80%. An inverse trend was observed in the elongation of the composite. The decline in the strength of the composite at high strain amounts was attributed to the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) especially at the interface of the brass layer. The low stacking fault energy (SFE) of brass (35 mJ m⁻²) and the great distance between its partial dislocations can lead to the accumulation of dislocations and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) under high amounts of strain. In addition, a noticeable drop was observed in the microhardness and dislocation density of brass layers after 80% thickness reduction, which was due to the occurrence of CDRX in this layer. Eventually, a noticeable increase was observed in the corrosion resistance of the composites at different strain amounts compared to that of the initial IF steel sheet.