Effect of precipitation on the evolution of cube recrystallisation texture

A study of the evolution of recrystallised structure and texture in the surface of a cold rolled twin roll cast AlFeSi alloy is presented. Annealing of such alloys often results in an abnormally coarse grained recrystallised surface structure with a strong cube texture. The evolution of this structure depends on the annealing procedures, that is, the precipitation state. Increased amounts of precipitating particles increase the grain size and the fraction of cube texture. The oriented growth theory does not offer any plausible interpretation of this precipitation effect. A recrystallisation model that incorporates the differences in Zener drag between different annealing procedures has shown that the evolution of a strong cube texture and coarse grains is the result of a preferential nucleation of cube oriented grains. Precipitation increases the critical nucleation diameter and the resulting grain size. Cube oriented subgrains have a size advantage compared to other potential nucleation sites and are therefore not so affected by precipitation. (C) 1997 Acta Metallurgica Inc.