Annealing Twinning and the Nucleation of Recrystallization at Grain Boundaries

Experimental evidence is presented which shows that, in three different low stacking fault energy materials, annealing twins form at grain boundaries during the very early stages of recovery following deformation. These observations provide the basis for the suggestion that twinning at grain boundaries during recovery might stimulate nucleation of recrystallization in low stacking fault energy materials.

The experimental observations also lead to the implication that the density of recrystallization nuclei formed in such materials may be directly related to the strength of the deformation texture.