Quantification of MicrostructuralEvolution and Texture DevelopmentDuring Recrystallization

Abstract

During primary recrystallization a population of new grains nucleates and grows within a cold‐deformed material until the latter is consumed. This process was studied from a combined microstructure, kinetics and texture viewpoint in commercial aluminum. Experimentally, recrystallization microstructures were quantified by stereological variables and Cahn‐Hagel growth rates. The orientations of the grains being measured stereologically were identified and experimentally determined using the back‐scatteredelectron pattern analysis. A geometrically‐based, statistical mathematical model of recrystallization kinetics, formulated analytically on nucleation and growth premises, was devised taking into account both the behavior of individual recrystallization texture components and the complex geometrical impingement patterns due to recrystallized grains occurring in clusters. By correlating and matching the experimental stereological measurements with the analytical model, the nucleation behavior and growth rates during recrystallization were estimated for each texture component. A 3‐D computer simulation verified the analytically‐deduced microstructural and textural description of recrystallization and allowed the as‐recrystallized grain sizes and the grain size distributions to be modelled as well. Using the combined approach, a complete nucleation and growth model for recrystallization of heavily cold rolled AA1050 was established.