Possible mechanisms of cubic texture generation in heavily rolling face-centered cubic metal due to the annealing twining

Face-centered cubic (FCC) metals were subjected to heavy rolling and two-step recrystallization annealing to form sharp cubic textures. The traditional theory states that the formation of recrystallized cubic-oriented grains originates from rolling cube grains. However, in our study, the Ni8W alloy underwent severe deformation during rolling, forming a typical brass-type rolling texture with almost no cubic-oriented grains. The quasi-3D electron backscatter diffraction results indicated that the newly generated cubic grains were not necessarily adjacent to the rolling cubic grains. Instead of growing from excited rolling cube grains, we found newly oriented recrystallized cubic grains generated from twin growth. Initially, most recrystallized grains undergo grain boundary migration or merging during low-temperature recrystallization annealing. Under such conditions, the initial recrystallized grains maintained the same orientation as the original matrix. However, it is also possible that the initially newly oriented recrystallized grains were generated through twinning. The {221}<122> orientation grains can cause cubic orientation by Sigma 3 boundaries. This twinning process reveals another pathway for generating initially recrystallized cubic grains in highly deformed FCC alloys. The recrystallized cubic-oriented grains ultimately evolved into cubic textures owing to their growth advantages, as described by the traditional theory. This discovery solves the puzzle of the recrystallization nucleation mechanism for cubic-oriented grains. It can help us better understand the evolution of the recrystallized cubic texture in heavily deformed FCC alloys.