An EBSP study of isothermally-annealed cold-rolled nickel

Scanning electron microscopy and electron backscattered patterns, EBSP, have been employed to reveal both the grain structure and texture of 90% cold-rolled polycrystalline nickel after 1-hour anneals at a variety of temperatures. After annealing at either 400 degrees or 500 degrees C, small, cube-oriented, equi-axed grains were produced via primary recrystallization. At 600 degrees C, large [124]<211> oriented grains accounted for an increasing proportion of the microstructure, until at 1000 degrees C only large grains ( approximately 600 microm) and a sharp [124]<211> texture were present. Detailed EBSP analyses of the grain boundaries surrounding the large abnormally grown grains observed at 600 degrees C demonstrated that formation of the secondary recrystallization texture was due to migration of high-mobility, random high-angle boundaries around grains that had a size advantage, consistent with the Abbruzzese-Lücke model.