Preface

Abstract

The Seventh International Conference on Recrystallization and Grain Growth is the continuation of a conference series that was initiated in 1990 with Recrystallization ’90, organized in Wollongong, followed in 1991 by ’Grain Growth in Polycrystalline Materials”, organized in Rome. Since 2001, both conference series were merged with the organization of the ‘1st International Conference on Recrystallization and Grain Growth’ in Aachen, which has ever since been a regularly recurring triannual event.During the three decades that have passed since its launch, this conference series has shaped an active and versatile research community with active participation from fundamental and applied research groups and industrial R&D organizations. Recrystallization and grain growth are defining factors in shaping the microstructure of both structural and functional polycrystalline materials, metals and nonmetals alike, and therefore of paramount importance for a wide variety of microstructurally sensitive material properties. Thus, an intensive and mutually fruitful collaboration has emerged between applied R&D groups, often associated with industrial organizations, and more fundamentally oriented scientists. Other scientific fields, such as geology, mineralogy and archeology have increasingly studied microstructures that ensue from thermally activated processes such as recrystallization and grain growth, which may provide clues as to how materials were created and what circumstances prevailed during their history.A more detailed understanding of the basic mechanisms of recrystallization and grain growth also contributes to the development of new materials with improved and more versatile functional properties. For newly emerging processing technologies, such as additive manufacturing, a better knowledge on recrystallization and grain growth, particularly in far out-of-equilibrium conditions, is of crucial importance for microstructural control of 3D printed metal objects and hence for the successful introduction of additive manufacturing to all its potential markets.