Recrystallization Mechanisms in Wire-Drawn Copper

Wire-drawn Electrolytic Tough Pitch copper deformed at moderate strain has been investigated with Electron Back Scattered Diffraction in a Scanning Electronic Microscope in order to evaluate the recrystallization mechanisms at the meso-scale. Experimentally, it has been shown that the static recrystallization takes place first in the highly deformed and misoriented areas, in the intermediate regions of the wire. The grains related to the <100> fiber nucleate and grow first in these regions, but some other orientations (including the <111> oriented grains) - that have a combined nucleation/growth potential - develop in second time. The annealing twinning is active from the beginning of the recrystallization and tends to randomize the final recrystallization texture.