Influence of intermediate annealing on the microstructure and texture of Ni-9.3at%W substrates

The effects of intermediate annealing (IA) on the microstructure and texture of Ni-9.3at%W substrates have been investigated by using electron backscattering diffraction and X-ray diffraction. Results suggest that IA can optimize the homogeneity of deformation microstructure. Higher IA temperatures (without undergoing recrystallization during IA) will increase the copper-type components of deformation texture and improve the content of cube texture after recrystallization. Sharp cube texture (97.2%) can be obtained at the optimum IA temperature of 650°C. The mechanism underlying the transition of deformation texture can be interpreted as that IA increases the dislocation slipping ability and suppresses the twinning deformation of Copper orientation in the subsequent rolling process. The observed strengthening of cube texture as a result of IA treatment is presumably attributed to the reduction of noncube nucleation and the optimization of preferential growth surrounding the cube nuclei.