Orientation-dependent stored energies in hot deformed Al–2.5%Mg and their influence on recrystallization

The dislocation densities in individual texture components of a hot, plane strain compressed, Al–2.5%Mg alloy have been determined by high resolution X-ray diffraction using recent methods for peak broadening interpretation. After deformation at 400 °C and strains up to 1.5 dislocation densities range from 2 to 20 × 1013 m−2. Both high energy synchrotron (European synchrotron radiation facility, ESRF) transmission peak analysis and standard reflection line analysis show that the S {1 2 3}〈4 1 2〉 component develops significantly higher stored energies than the cube, brass {0 1 1}〈2 1 1〉 and Goss {0 1 1}〈1 0 0〉 components. After subsequent annealing to partial recrystallization, EBSD orientation maps over large areas demonstrate that the high energy S component is preferentially consumed by recrystallization. It is also shown that the development of the cube recrystallization texture is due to a nucleation frequency advantage, function of the applied strain.