Cube recrystallization texture—experimental results and modeling

Two recent ideas for understanding and modeling the development of cube recrystallization texture in rolled and plane strain deformed aluminum and copper have been tested by experimental studies. The ideas are: (i) the concept called either ‘orientation pinning’ or ‘variant inhibition’—the inhibition of the growth of recrystallized grains by contact with regions in the deformed material with similar orientation, and (ii) the simple model, αC = NCdR/λC, for predicting the frequency of recrystallized cube grains based on nucleation from closely spaced deformed cube bands inherited from pre-existing cube grains. λC is the mean spacing between deformed cube bands,dR is the thickness of the recrystallized grains, both measured in the normal direction, ND, and NC is the number of cube grains per cube band in a linear traverse in ND. Detailed experimental results by orientation imaging microscopy have confirmed the importance of orientation pinning in preventing the development of the majority deformation texture components in warm deformed aluminum since here dR > λV, the inter-variant spacing of the rolling texture variants. In the same material cold rolled to an equivalent strain, retained rolling texture developed since, after cold rolling,dR < λV. Direct experiments have also confirmed each of the assumptions underlying the simple cube frequency model. Comparisons between the very different texture results found using only slightly different starting materials indicate the need for more quantitative experimental and modeling studies on the role of starting microstructure, grain size, shape and texture, on the development of the deformed microstructure, particularly on cube grain stability and grain fragmentation.