Observation of grain growth in U-10Mo alloy

Abstract

Both as-cast and homogenized wedge specimens of U-10wt%Mo (U-10Mo) alloy were thermomechanically processed in both cold and hot rolled conditions and annealed at 700 °C for periods lasting up to 2 h. The hot rolled samples had a net strain of 70% whereas the cold rolled ones were subjected to 30% strain. Annealed microstructures were examined using electron backscatter diffraction in order to estimate the completeness of recrystallization and grain size, and these were mapped as a function of strain. In as-cast samples, the stored energy with strain increases but in the homogenized samples the stored energy remains constant with strain. This is due to a difference in the initial microstructure (before deformation) of the homogenized samples.