Direct observation of subgrain evolution during recovery of cold-rolled aluminium

An X-ray diffraction method is introduced for monitoring the change in volume and orientation of individual, embedded subgrains during static recovery. It is limited to plate-like specimens with a thickness of less than 100 subgrain sizes. Growth curves are presented for nine subgrains within a 38% cold-rolled aluminium specimen during annealing for 3 h at 300 degreesC. (C) 2003 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.