Recovery and recrystallization as a function of deformed microstructure orientation in coarse grained cold-rolled Ni

The effect of crystal orientation on the recovery and recrystallization of cold-rolled Ni (99.96% purity) has been investigated. Particular attention was paid to the annealing response of regions with either the Copper (C), Brass (B) or S rolling texture orientations. Samples with an initial average grain size of approx. 500μm were deformed to strains of up to εvM = 4.5.

As a result of the large initial grain size, even after high rolling reductions it is possible to find sufficiently large regions of material with similar crystal orientation to analyze the recovery and recrystallization behaviour as a function of crystal orientation. Microstructural investigations were carried out in the scanning electron microscope using both electron channeling contrast and electron backscatter diffraction orientation mapping.

Both the S and C orientation regions exhibit a heterogeneous microstructure containing bands of localized deformation. The presence of volumes surrounded by high angle boundaries in these regions strongly influences both the recovery and recrystallization behaviour of the material. Twinning was observed also to play an important role in the generation of recrystallized grains, with twin chains of up to 3 generations being observed.