Modeling of Cube-Texture Evolution during Grain Growth in Ni Thick-Films based on Experimental Observations

Abstract

. A Monte Carlo Potts model, including anisotropic boundary energies and mobilities, has been used to investigate cube texture evolution. The work is motivated by the post-recrystallization grain growth seen during annealing of highly cold-rolled nickel sheets. It is observed that during such grain growth the cube texture fraction increases from approx. 50% to more than 95%. Electron back-scatter diffraction orientation measurements of fully recrystallized samples have been used to provide starting microstructures for simulations examining the effect of the texture tightness on the development of the cube texture during grain growth. The texture evolution of a single texture component with an initial average size advantage is controlled predominantly by this size advantage once the initial texture spread of this component falls below some value. An additional set of simulations was also carried out to examine grain growth in systems with a quasi-binary texture. The simulations were used to examine cases of grain growth in where one component has a larger average grain size, but where there is still a significant overlap in the grain-size distribution of each component. The initial microstructures were constructed to give different fractions of each texture component, with a given value of both the mean size and the texture spread of each component. The simulations suggest that for such systems there is a well defined range of conditions for which a single texture component can grow to dominate the final texture.