The effect of rolling strain on precipitation kinetics of Al 7075 alloy processed at liquid nitrogen temperature has been investigated in the present work. The Al 7075 alloy plates were solutionized and cryorolled with thickness reduction of 35% and 90%. The microstructural characterizations of the bulk and cryorolled Al alloy samples were carried out by electron backscatter diffraction analysis (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The cryorolled Al alloys upon 90% thickness reduction exhibit ultrafine grained microstructure. The DSC results of cryorolled Al 7075 alloys obtained at different heating rates are used to calculate activation energies for the evolution of precipitates. The influence of different reduction rates on activation energy of precipitate formation in the cryorolled Al 7075 alloys was analyzed. The present study has shown that an ultrafine-grained Al 7075 alloy exhibits a higher driving force for the precipitation formation when compared to that of its bulk Al alloys. © 2008 Trans Tech Publications.