A [211]-oriented niobium single crystal was deformed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature using the route Bc to a total strain of 9.2. A sharp cube texture develops after ECAP processing. The deformed samples were annealed in vacuum from 400ºC (673 K) to 900ºC (1173 K) for 1 h to evaluate their microstructural stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to image the microstructures of as-deformed and annealed specimens. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was employed to determine the respective microtextures before and after annealing. Coarsening of the microstructure occurs at a maximum rate at 550ºC (823 K) due to discontinuous recrystallization. Normal grain growth replaces discontinuous recrystallization as the main coarsening mechanism above 700ºC (973 K).

Abstract Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) were used to examine microstructural changes of the austenitic low-density Fe-30.5Mn-8.0Al-1.2C (8Al) and Fe-30.5Mn-2.1Al-1.2C (2Al) (wt.%) steels during cold rolling. As the strain increased, deformation mechanisms, such as stacking faults, slip, mechanical twinning, and shear banding were activated in both steels cold rolled up to strain of 0.69. Only slip was noted in these steels at low strain (ε=0.11) and slip dominance was detected in the 8Al steel at higher strains. Shear banding became active at higher strain (ε~0.7) in these materials. An inhomogeneous microstructure formed in both alloys at such strain level. More extensive mechanical twinning in the 2Al alloy than that in the 8Al alloy was observed. Fish bone-like structure patterns were revealed in the 8Al steel and a river-like structure in the 2Al steel. Detailed microstructure features as elongated and fragmented grains along the rolling direction (RD) were found for both steels, as already observed in other high-Mn steels. These deformed structures are composed by lamellar packets which can contain mechanical twins or slip lines and shear bands.

Abstract Crystallographic textures of the austenitic low-density Fe-30.5Mn-8.0Al-1.2C (8Al) and Fe-30.5Mn-2.1Al-1.2C (2Al) (wt.%) steels were examined during cold rolling by means of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI). Random oriented grains orient towards Goss- and brass-components along the α-fiber as the strain increased, with activation of slip, mechanical twinning, and shear banding, for both steels. S- and copper-orientations were also observed in the 8Al steel at 50% reduction. The route of Cu-CuT-Goss-brass texture evolution was found in the 2Al alloy. Cu, Goss, and brass textures occur as a dominant texture in the deformed 8Al alloy. Copper-type texture accompanied with slip at low reduction (20%), as well as Cu-type shear bands, and shear banding inside Goss-oriented grains at higher reduction (50%), were observed in the 8Al steel. It is suggested that this copper-type rolling texture may be attributed to the Al addition, which contributes to its low twinning activity compared to that in the 2Al alloy. Cu-CuT-brass f.c.c. rolling texture transition to form the Brass-type texture was observed at higher reduction in the 2Al alloy with strong similarity to that found in other Fe-Mn-C system TWIP steels.