Dynamic Abnormal Grain Growth in Refractory Metals

High-temperature plastic deformation of the body-centered cubic (BCC) refractory metals Mo and Ta can initiate and propagate abnormal grains at significantly lower temperatures and faster rates than is possible by static annealing alone. This discovery reveals a new and potentially important aspect of abnormal grain growth (AGG) phenomena. The process of AGG during plastic deformation at elevated temperatures, termed dynamic abnormal grain growth (DAGG), was observed at homologous temperatures between 0.52 and 0.72 in both Mo and Ta sheet materials; these temperatures are much lower than those for previous observations of AGG in these materials during static annealing. DAGG was used to repeatedly grow single crystals several centimeters in length. Investigations to date have produced a basic understanding of the conditions that lead to DAGG and how DAGG is affected by microstructure in BCC refractory metals. The current state of understanding for DAGG is reviewed in this paper. Attention is given to the roles of temperature, plastic strain, boundary mobility and preexisting microstructure. DAGG is considered for its potential useful applications in solid-state crystal growth and its possibly detrimental role in creating undesired abnormal grains during thermomechanical processing.