Texture evolution of high purity tantalum under different rolling paths

Deformation behavior and texture evolution of the material can be significantly affected by strain path change. For this reason, two rolling methods, unidirectional rolling (UR) and clock rolling (CR), were employed to manufacture tantalum plates. Texture evolution during unidirectional rolling and clock rolling was studied respectively by orientation distribution function (ODF). Related annealed microstructures were investigated by orientation image map (OIM). Usually, unidirectional rolling led to a strengthening of the main texture component with increasing strain, but for tantalum dominant texture component {001} theta-fiber was stable after 70% deformation, while minor texture component {1 1 1} gamma-fiber was enhanced with increasing strain. In clock rolling, both of the two fibers were not stable any more for their intensity varied with rolling pass. After the final deformation, a similar texture was produced by the two rolling methods. However, recrystallization texture revealed a big difference. Such different texture development was contributed to microstructural change resulted from rolling path change. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.