Continuous recrystallization-related phenomena in a commercial Al-Fe-Si alloy

The phenomenon of continuous recrystallization has been investigated in a h eavily cold rolled commercial Al-Fe-Si alloy (AA8079) containing a distribu tion of both large and small FeAl3 second-phase particles. Transmission ele ctron microscopy revealed that at Bower temperatures the small particles re stricted growth by pinning boundaries and at higher temperatures the partic les coarsened in size allowing homogeneous subgrain growth to take place. T he large particles did not act as preferential sites for nucleation and cri tical particle sizes calculated for particle-stimulated nucleation are give n. It was concluded that continuous recrystallization in the present invest igation is a combination of two processes; subgrain growth controlled by pa rticle coarsening and grain growth commencing from a structure comprising p redominantly high-angle boundaries. (C) 1998 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Publish ed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.