Evolution of microstructure and texture during industrial processing of FeAl sheets

We report the evolution of texture and microstructures during thermomechanical processing of roll compacted Fe–40Al (at.%) sheets produced from water atomized powders. The oxide films present on the surface of the powder are transformed into discrete particles due to multiple cold rolling steps, and serve to pin grain boundaries leading to improved strength and ductility. In addition, oxide particles limit the grain growth when the sheets are exposed to temperatures in the range of 1000–1200 °C. The carbon present in the alloy remains in solution during the roll-anneal processing steps, but is precipitated as fine perovskite particles on ageing. Interestingly, FeAl sheets manufactured by roll compaction followed by cold rolling and annealing treatments exhibit only very weak textures in the sheets with no differences between sheet centre and surface detected.