Part VII. Miscellaneous Topics Module 1: Recovery and Recrystallisation

Part VII.
Miscellaneous topics
Module 1 : Recovery and recrystallisation
Part VII. Miscellaneous topics

In this part, we discuss the recovery, recrystallisation and grain growth processes; though these are not strictly phase transformations, they do have
characteristics that are very similar to phase transformations and hence are
discussed here. In the last module of this part we discuss coarsening.
1
1.1
Recovery and recrystallisation

Motivation
Why is it not possible to use work hardened structural materials in high

temperature applications?
1.2
Cold working
There are many ways in which materials can be strengthened; work or strain
hardening is one of the strengthening mechanisms. To work harden a material, it is cold worked: that is, it is deformed at low temperatures typically
at the ambient temperature, but any temperature which is below 0.3 to 0.5
of the melting temperature of the material will qualify as low temperature.
Cold working introduces defects in the material (typically point defects and
dislocations) which act as impediments to the movement of dislocations and
hence the material is strengthened. The defects generated during cold working can store about 1 to 10 % of the energy of plastic deformation.
A cold worked material, however, cannot be used at high temperatures; typically, 0.3 to 0.5 of the melting temperature of the material is considered as
high service temperature. In this temperature range, the microstructure of
a cold worked material undergoes changes which reduce the strength of the
material. In this module we study these microstructural changes, namely,
recovery and recrystallisation.
1.3
Recovery
Recovery is a process that kicks in at low temperatures; in this stage, the

excess defects are annealed out, dislocations of opposite signs annihilate each
other, and dislocations align to form low energy configurations, namely tilt
and twist boundaries. In Fig. 1 for example, we show how a wall of edge
dislocations form a tilt boundary. In the recovery stage, however, the energy
released through the annihilation and rearrangment of dislocations is not
considerable.
Figure 1: A wall of edge dislocations form a tilt grain boundary; it is a small

angle grain boundary; the inter-dilocation separation in the grain boundary
is decided by the misorientation between the two grains and the Burgers
vector.
3
1.4
Recrystallisation
Recrystallisation is the process in which deformed grains are replaced by

strain-free grains. It is generally observed that higher cold work and smaller
initial grain size lead to finer recrystallized grains.
The driving force for recrystallisation is the stored strain energy in the material. For recrystallisation to take place, a minimum of cold working is needed;
if the deformation is very low, recrystallisation does not occur.
During recrystallisation, the stress-free grains nucleate and grow. In a recrystallised system (after more than about 90% deformation) the resultant
microstructure is textured; that is, most of the grains have similar orientation.
In Fig. 2 we (schematically) show the fraction recrystallised in cold worked
copper as a function of annealing time at different temperatures. From the
figure it is clear that the dynamics of recrystallisation can be described by
JMAK kinetics. It is also observed that the recrystallisation rate increases
with temperature in an expotential manner.
The temperature at which a given material completely recrystallises in an

hour is defined as the recrystallisation temperature. The recrystallisation
temperature is low if the degree of deformation is high and/or if the temperature of deformation is low and/or if the initial grain size is small. The
recrystallisation temperature is also very sensitive to the purity of the material; an addition of 0.01 at.% of Te to pure copper, for example, can increase
the recrystallisation temperature by about 240 C.
1.5
Cold work, recovery, recrystallisation and material

properties
The processes of cold work, recovery and recrystallisation, because of the

changes they produce in the microstructure of the material, also affect the
properties of the materials. In Fig. 4, we show, schematically, variations in
tensile strength, electrical conductivity and ductility with these processes.
Figure 2: Annealing time versus fraction of recrystallised copper as a function

of temperature. Note that the time changes from 1 to 5 to 10 hours with
a decrease of about 20 K in temperature indicating the strong influence of
temperature on recrystallisation kinetics.
Figure 3: Changes in properties with % cold work and annealing temperature;

increasing annealing temperatures leads to recovery and recrystallisation.
Note that still higher annealing temperatures leads to grain growth.
1.6
Tutorial problems and questions
Consider cold worked aluminium in which the dislocation density is

increased from 1010 to 1014 per m2 . Calcualte the driving force for
recrystallisation.
1.7
Solutions to the tutorial
The shear modulus of aluminium is about 26 G Pa. Hence, the energy

associated with 1014 per m2 of dislocations is (since the Burgers vector
is 2.86
A)
1
2
26 109 2.862 1020 1014 ;
that is, the driving force is about 1 MJ per m3 .
1.8
Supplementary information
If the temperature of deformation is high, the recovery process can occur

simultaneously with cold working. Such a process is known as dynamic recovery. Similarly, dynamic recrystallization is one in which recrystallisation
processes take place along with deformation; again, dynamic recrystallization
is possible if the temperature of deformation is high (during hot working, for
example).

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Part VII.

Part VII. Miscellaneous topics

Recovery and recrystallisation

Why is it not possible to use work hardened structural materials in high

Recovery is a process that kicks in at low temperatures; in this stage, the

Figure 1: A wall of edge dislocations form a tilt grain boundary; it is a small

Recrystallisation is the process in which deformed grains are replaced by

The temperature at which a given material completely recrystallises in an

Cold work, recovery, recrystallisation and material

The processes of cold work, recovery and recrystallisation, because of the

Figure 2: Annealing time versus fraction of recrystallised copper as a function

Figure 3: Changes in properties with % cold work and annealing temperature;

Tutorial problems and questions

Consider cold worked aluminium in which the dislocation density is

Solutions to the tutorial

The shear modulus of aluminium is about 26 G Pa. Hence, the energy

26 109 2.862 1020 1014 ;

that is, the driving force is about 1 MJ per m3 .

If the temperature of deformation is high, the recovery process can occur

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