On the origin of recrystallization textures

The development of recrystallization textures has been debated for the past 50 years. Essentially the rival theories of evolution of recrystallization textures i.e. oriented nucleation (ON) and oriented growth (OG) has been under dispute. In the ON model, it has been argued that a higher frequency of the special orientation (grains) than random occur, thus accounting for the texture. In the OG model, it has been argued that the specially oriented grains have a high mobility boundary and thus can migrate faster and grow to a larger size as compared to random orientations thus contributing to the final recrystallization texture. In FCC metals and alloys like aluminium, cube orientation [(001) 〈100〉] is the recrystallization texture component. In the classic OG model, cube orientation is supposed to be misoriented fromS-orientation [(123) ] which is a deformation texture component by a 40° about 〈111〉 relationship which is supposed to be a high mobility boundary leading to faster growth of cube grains. Stereographic calculations and analytical calculations are presented in this paper to the effect that theS-orientation (123) is not misoriented from cube (100) 〈001〉 by 40° 〈111〉 whereas another deformation texture component (123) which is termed theR-component is misoriented from cube component by 40° 〈111〉,R-component is also seen in deformation textures of aluminium and hence the classic OG model remains valid with respect to theR-component.     

Microstructural development during the liquid-phase sintering of two-phase alloys,with special reference to the NbC/Co system

An investigation was made of the grain growth and other microstructural changes occurring during the liquid-phase sintering of NbC alloys with ～20 wt % cobalt. The effects of sintering time, sintering temperature, and small alloying additions were studied. It was found that the grain growth of NbC in liquid cobalt, at 1420° C, can be described by the equation: $$\bar d^3 - \bar d_0 ^3 = {\text{K}}t$$ where \(\bar d\) is the mean linear intercept of the grains after time t, and \(\bar d_0\) the initial mean intercept, K being a temperature-dependent constant with an “activation energy” of 95±15 kcal/mole. This equation suggests that grain growth occurs by a solution/ precipitation process controlled by diffusion in the liquid phase. Small alloying additions of WC, TiC or NbB₂ inhibit the growth and/or alter the growth process, as well as affecting such properties as the shape and contiguity of the carbide grains. The relative significance of grain coalescence to grain growth in a liquid phase is discussed. By examining theoretically the effect of anisotropy of interface energy on the cube ? sphere grain-shape change, it has been possible to explain the observed sensitivity of grain shape towards sintering conditions.     

Influence of different deformation processing on the AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets

AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets were processed by normal rolling (NR), one-pass equal channel angular rolling (1P-ECAR), and cross equal channel angular rolling (C-ECAR) at 400 °C on a die with 105 ° channel angle. The microstructure, texture, and tensile properties of sheets were measured. The results show that ECAR processing can weaken the basal plane texture, thus obviously improve the mechanical properties. The yield ratio σ_s/σ_b decreases and strain hardening exponent n increases along rolling direction (RD) during ECAR, which means that the uniform plastic formability is enhanced. After C-ECAR, the mechanical properties along both the RD and transverse direction (TD) are improved. Different twinning types, fine contraction twinning in the NRed sheets and coarse extension twinning in the ECARed sheets, were observed. The easier activation of twinning and basal 〈a〉 slip leads to the lower yield strength of the ECARed sheets. Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during the rolling process has great effect on the microstructure of the as-deformed and annealed sheets. The annealed C-ECARed sheets have significant finer and homogenous grains than the annealed NRed sheets, which is attributed to the rarely DRX process during ECAR. The average grain sizes of the annealed C-ECARed samples and NRed samples are 14 and 24 μm, respectively.     

Mechanism of secondary recrystallization of Goss grains in grain-oriented electrical steel

Abstract

Since its invention by Goss in 1934, grain-oriented (GO) electrical steel has been widely used as a core material in transformers. GO exhibits a grain size of over several millimeters attained by secondary recrystallization during high-temperature final batch annealing. In addition to the unusually large grain size, the crystal direction in the rolling direction is aligned with <001>, which is the easy magnetization axis of α-iron. Secondary recrystallization is the phenomenon in which a certain very small number of {110}<001> (Goss) grains grow selectively (about one in 10⁶ primary grains) at the expense of many other primary recrystallized grains. The question of why the Goss orientation is exclusively selected during secondary recrystallization has long been a main research subject in this field. The general criterion for secondary recrystallization is a small and uniform primary grain size, which is achieved through the inhibition of normal grain growth by fine precipitates called inhibitors. This paper describes several conceivable mechanisms of secondary recrystallization of Goss grains mainly based on the selective growth model.     

Length scale effects on recrystallization and texture evolution in Cu layers of a roll-bonded Cu–Nb composite

Recrystallization textures were investigated in thin layers of both pure Cu and alloyed Cu combined with Nb in roll-bonded composites. Texture analysis using X-ray revealed that Cube orientation was the dominant texture component after recrystallization in rolled monolithic pure Cu whereas {2 1 5} 2 1 1 and B/S were the dominant components for the recrystallized alloyed Cu. In the composites, however, the rolling texture is retained during annealing in both the pure Cu and the alloyed Cu layers when the layer thickness enters the sub-micron regime. This is attributed to the nucleation and growth of recrystallizing grains being impeded via a reduction in recrystallization driving pressure and the grain boundary movement and growth being limited due to the layer thickness effect. A new term—“confined recrystallization” was also introduced to describe more accurately the morphological evolution observed within the sub-micron thick layers after annealing and highlights the contrast to either simple recovery or continuous recrystallization.     

Texture evolution and probability distribution of Goss orientation in magnetostrictive Fe–Ga alloy sheets

Texture evolution and the distribution of Goss orientation in polycrystalline Fe–Ga alloy were investigated as a series of rolling and subsequent annealing processes were used to develop highly textured rolled sheet. A dramatic change from the random nature of the as-rolled and primary recrystallized texture is observed when careful control of atmosphere and temperature during anneal leads to development of a sharp Goss orientation over up to 98 % of the surface of a sample during secondary recrystallization. In this work, grain boundary properties in local areas surrounding Goss grains are investigated and the evolution of Goss orientation is traced through the different stages of alloy processing using electron backscatter diffraction analysis. To evaluate the evolution of grains with Goss orientation, {011} grains are selected and separated from other texture components at each processing step and statistical analysis used to correlate the structural inheritance chain of Goss-oriented grains. The four processing stages considered are the alloy after hot rolling, the as-rolled alloy (i.e., after subsequent warm and cold rolling), the alloy after an initial anneal during which primary recrystallization occurs, and the alloy after final anneals in which secondary recrystallization with abnormal grain growth occurs. Analysis of Goss grain orientation probability distribution functions after primary and secondary recrystallization convincingly demonstrates that the orientation of the abnormally grown Goss texture that develops during secondary recrystallization is determined by the orientation of Goss components that develop during the primary recrystallization stage of alloy processing.     

Grain morphology and texture evolution of TC21 titanium alloy during annealing with different time

A homogeneous equiaxed‐structure TC21 titanium alloy is hot rolled and annealed for different time ranging from 1 h to 6 h. The grain morphology and texture evolution of α and β phases during annealing are mainly investigated using the electron back‐scattered diffraction characterization. In the early annealing stage, the α grain mainly maintains the elongated morphology generated in the rolling. With increasing annealing time, more and more elongated α grains become equiaxed due to enhanced static recrystallization and boundary splitting. Differently, the β grain exhibits a fully equiaxed morphology all the time due to the sufficient static recrystallization, and get a coarsening with increasing annealing time. The α phase exhibits a (0001) basal texture in the early annealing stage, and then forms a TD‐split texture with increasing annealing time. The β phase exhibits the {001}<110> texture at every annealing time. Based on the analysis about the texture of different grain sizes, the effects of recrystallization nucleation and oriented growth on texture evolution are discussed. It suggests that TD‐split texture in α phase is originated from both the recrystallization nucleation and oriented growth. The formation of {001}<110> texture in β phase is mainly originated from the oriented growth.     

The Nature of the Nonsingularity of Inner Interfaces in Hydroxyapatite Ceramics

The morphology of inner interfaces in hydroxyapatite (HA) based calcium phosphate ceramics has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. Grain boundaries in the ceramics have been shown to have a vicinal character, which is related to the mechanism of secondary recrystallization in the material: layer growth of grains via sequential motion of elementary steps on planes corresponding to the \(\{ 1\bar 100\} \) HA prism faces, which grow through transitions of atoms from adjacent grains that are in contact through their planes with large Miller indices. The recrystallization process may be accompanied by a “collision” of vicinal growth surfaces of grains with relatively large misalignment angles and the formation of grain boundaries nanofaceted by prism planes of adjacent grains. The recrystallization process in such a case should be expected to continue in the grain with a smaller nonsingularity of the growth front. Grain boundaries may allow for a match between planes differing in Miller indices, nd_h1k1l1 ≈ md_h2k2l2, and the formation of grain-boundary Pumphrey dislocations, which compensate for the size mismatch between interplanar spacings and/or misalignment of the planes. The observed characteristic grain match configurations are typical of both ceramics produced by sintering HA powders and HA films produced by ion sputtering.     

A comparison of strengthening mechanisms in rolled and axisymmetrically deformed Ti-20Y composites

Two Ti-20%Y metal-metal composites were deformation processed: one axisymmetrically and the other by rolling. The microstructures, preferred crystallographic orientations, and tensile strengths of each were measured periodically as the deformation progressed. The axisymmetrically deformed Ti matrix developed a [10 0] fiber texture, and the rolled composite acquired a texture with the <0001> tilted 31° from the sheet normal toward the transverse direction with [10 0] parallel to the rolling direction. The orientations of the {10 0}<11 0> and (0002)<11 0> slip systems in Ti with these textures were used in conjunction with the maximum possible slip distances for dislocation travel in each specimen to demonstrate that the axisymmetrically deformed material should be stronger than the rolled material for composites of equal phase thickness and spacing. The strengths of the two composites measured in this study were compared at similar microstructural phase sizes and spacings, and the axisymmetrically deformed composite was indeed found to be somewhat stronger, although the difference in strengths was not large.     

Effect of cooling rate in overageing and other thermomechanical process parameters on grain refinement in an AA7475 aluminium alloy

Fine-grained AA7475 aluminium alloy sheets were produced in this study by a thermomechanical treatment involving solution anneal, overageing, rolling and recrystallization steps. It has been found that the cooling rate after the intermediate overageing treatment should be fast to obtain the finest grain size. The fast cooling rate ensured the presence of relatively large particles of MgZn₂ and some supersaturation prior to cold rolling. Generally, the final grain structure was heterogeneous, with bands of fine grains lying parallel to the rolling direction. In material rapidly cooled after overageing, bands of fine grains were also observed in the transverse direction and these bands were associated with shear bands formed during rolling. The fine-grained AA7475 alloy sheets with an average grain size of about 9 m showed large tensile elongations of about 800% when deformed at 516 °C and with an initial strain rate of 5×10^–4s^–1.     

The effect of SiC nanoparticles on deformation texture of ARB-processed steel-based nanocomposite

In this study, the influence of SiC nanoparticles on deformation texture of steel-based nanocomposite fabricated by accumulative roll bonding process was investigated. It was found that there was a texture transition from the rolling texture to the shear texture for both pure interstitial free steel and steel-based nanocomposite. However, the texture transition occurred in different cycles for the pure steel (the third cycle) and steel-based nanocomposite (the first cycle). It was realized that the fraction of low misorientation angle grain boundaries was decreased and the fraction of high misorientation angle grain boundaries was increased by the number of cycles. Also, recrystallization occurred in the pure steel and steel-based nanocomposite samples after the third and first cycles, respectively. In addition, the occurrence of recrystallization in steel-based nanocomposite was sooner than that of pure steel. At the early stage of dynamic recrystallization in processed steels, the {011}< 100 >-oriented grains were evolved and the fraction of grains with α-fiber and γ-fiber orientations was slightly decreased. The formation of the rolling texture in the steel-based nanocomposite samples was different from the typical rolling texture for the pure steel samples, due to the presence of the SiC nanoparticles in the nanocomposite. The weak rolling texture was attributed to the high stored energy of deformation, which was, in turn, due to low deformation temperature.     

激光加热下铜的再结晶织构及其机制探讨

冷变形金属再结晶织构受加热速度的影响很大。利用激光超快速加热方法对冷轧纯铜进行再结晶处理，其织构转变动力学过程与普通加热时不同，并受冷轧量的影响。     

Deformation band and texture of a cast Mg-RE alloy under uniaxial hot compression

Microstructural evolution and texture of a cast Mg-9Gd-4Y-0.6Zr ingot under hot compression were studied in this paper. Post-deforming microstructures were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, while crystallographic orientation information was obtained from X-Ray macro-texture measurement and EBSD micro-texture analysis. Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) initiated from the deformation bands (DB) forming on original grain boundaries; the DB became widen with continuously conversion of low-angle-boundary grains into high-angle-boundary grains. The tendency of strain localization increased with Z parameter. The macro-texture analysis indicates that uniaxial compression yielded out the randomized basal texture component. This texture component was found to be strengthened with increasing Z parameter. The micro-texture analysis shows that the deviation from the ideal basal texture arose from orientated growth within DBs. Moreover, the localization deformation promoted dynamic precipitation within DBs, which inhibited the development of DRX.     

Texture evolution during hot-rolling and recrystallization in B2-type FeAl, NiAl and CoTi intermetallic compounds

The texture evolution during the hot-rolling and the recrystallization of B2-type Fe–48Al, Ni–50Al and Co–50Ti (expressed by at.%) intermetallic compounds were investigated. By hot-rolling at 973 K, Fe–48Al showed a microstructure with coarse grains elongated along rolling direction, while Ni–50Al and Co–50Ti showed a deformed microstructure featured by the heavily distorted (elongated) grains and/or the deformation bands. The hot-rolling texture of Fe–48Al was composed of {111}<uvw>, while those of Ni–50Al and Co–50Ti were composed of {111}<110> and {111}<112>, respectively. After annealing, the recrystallized grains were preferentially nucleated at the grain boundaries for Fe–48Al, and in the heavily distorted regions or the deformation bands for Ni–50Al and Co–50Ti. The orientations of the recrystallized grains were similar with those of the deformed matrix, especially for Ni–50Al and Co–50Ti. The recrystallization textures were generally more dispersive than the hot-rolling texture. Based on these results, the texture evolution during the hot rolling and the recrystallization of the B2-type intermetallic compounds were discussed.     

High energy impact techniques application for surface grain refinement in AZ91D magnesium alloy

A nanostructured surface layer was fabricated on magnesium alloy AZ91D by using the high-energy impact technique (HEIT). With the help of transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), the microstructure features of the surface layer were systematically observed and characterized in different stages of microstructure evolution. The result revealed the mechanism of grain refinement and strain accommodation. The process of grain refinement, accompanied by an increase in strain in the surface layer, resulted from several processes. The onset of deformation twinning and the intersection with twins system are one of them. The operation of basal slip and pyramidal slip led to the formation of dislocation cells and low-angle dislocation boundaries. The successive subdivision of grains to a finer scale resulted in the formation of highly disoriented nanocrystalline grains. The mechanism of grain refinement was interpreted in terms of the structural subdivision of grains together with dynamic recrystallization. The minimum size of such refined grains was about 40 nm.     

Microstructural and textural evolution of pure titanium during differential speed rolling and subsequent annealing

The microstructural and textural evolution of pure titanium during differential speed rolling (DSR) at 500 °C and subsequent annealing were investigated using electron backscattered diffraction analysis. Twinning only occurs in the initial stage of DSR, and further deformation is dominated by dislocation slip. The as-rolled microstructure is characterized by large deformed grains, which form a major component of the material, and some dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains mainly existing in shear band regions. A dramatic change in the rolling texture, from the transverse direction (TD) split texture with basal poles largely tilted at ±40° to the single-peak basal texture, occurs during DSR. This change in texture is accelerated during the late stage of DSR and may be attributed to the gradual lattice rotation of deformed grains caused by enhanced basal slip activity. The basal texture changes back to the TD-split texture with basal poles tilted at ±25° after annealing due to consumption of deformed grains with basal orientations from DRXed grains with the TD-split texture. Subsequent extensive grain growth changes the orientation of the a-axis from parallel to the TD to parallel to the rolling direction, which is the result of the preferential grain growth in that direction.     

Effect of the size and dispersion of precipitates formed in hot rolling on recrystallization texture in ferritic stainless steels

In the present paper, the size and dispersion of precipitates in ferritic stainless steels have been varied by applying different hot rolling processes, the effect of which on the evolution of recrystallization textures was investigated. The precipitate characterization was observed and studied by transmission electron microscopy and the texture evolution processes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron backscattering diffraction. The results show that low temperature finish rolling can promote the formation of a large number of fine and dense TiC precipitates in hot band. These fine and dense precipitates can be inherited in the final sheet, and are beneficial to facilitating the nucleation of randomly oriented grains by promoting the formation of inhomogeneous cold rolled microstructure, strongly suppressing the growth of recrystallized grains by pinning grain boundary migration, thereby weakening the formation of γ-fiber recrystallization texture and deteriorating the formability of final sheet. By contrast, strong γ-fiber recrystallization texture is developed in the sample with sparsely distributed coarse precipitates. Therefore, the size and dispersion of precipitates formed in hot rolling have significant effects on the nucleation of randomly oriented grains and the growth of recrystallized grains during recrystallization annealing, which play important roles in controlling the γ-fiber recrystallization texture in ferritic stainless steels.     

无取向硅钢形变储能取向依赖性及其对再结晶织构的影响

采用晶体塑性有限元模拟与实验相结合的方式,研究无取向硅钢冷轧过程中不同初始织构组分的取向流动与形变储能累积。结果表明:冷轧后形成了较强的α,γ形变织构和较弱的λ形变织构。再结晶织构由γ,α,η和λ织构组成,其取向密度依赖于冷轧压下率。随冷轧压下率增大,λ再结晶织构逐渐增强,η织构先增强后减弱,γ织构先减弱后增强,α织构稍有弱化。冷轧过程中形变储能累积具有明显的初始取向依赖性,初始γ取向储能累积速率在低于50%压下率时与初始α取向接近,高于50%压下率时则明显大于后者,初始λ取向储能累积速率始终显著低于γ和α取向,转至同一形变取向的不同初始取向间的储能累积也会产生差异。冷轧过程中不同初始织构组分的取向流动与形变储能累积规律,决定了无取向硅钢再结晶织构组分的发展。     

Texture evolution during inclined cold rolling of used non-oriented silicon steel

With the objective of optimizing the texture components and exploring a method to improve the magnetic properties of used silicon steel, the methods of one inclined rolling and two inclined rolling were applied. The result shows: the new Goss grains were nucleated except at {111} deformed grains, and also formed at the grain boundary between two deformed grains with {113} orientation, and at grains boundaries between {113} and {100} deformed grain. The grain size after one inclined rolling (57 %) was larger and more homogeneous than the grain size after the two inclined rolling. Although with different cold rolling methods (one and two inclined rolling), the resulted annealing textures all had similar features. The difference was the relative intensities between the main texture. A significant feature of one inclined rolling was the intensification of the η-fiber and the Goss texture component and the weakening of γ-fiber. At an inclination angle of 60°, a significantly strong Goss texture was produced, which was highest among all samples, and the maximum volume fraction of {110}+{100} texture can also be obtained. One inclined rolling can better improve the magnetic properties of used silicon steel (B₅₀), and the magnetic induction is between 1.712 T and 1.742 T. The highest magnetic induction of 1.742 T can be obtained by one inclined rolling (at an inclination angle of 60°).     

Grain growth and grain orientation distribution of Al-Mg alloys

Grain growth behaviour of Al–Mg alloys containing 0.3, 2.7 and mass% Mg was investigated focusing on the spatial distribution of grain orientation and grain boundary character. In Al–0.3 mass% Mg alloy the cube texture developed at the first stage and then the texture declined accompanied with abnormal grain growth of non-cube grains at the second stage. The development of cube grains was suppressed by an increase of solute Mg atoms. The texture change depended strongly on spatial distribution of grain boundary character and cube clusters.