ABSTRACT
The earliest variations of microstructure and mechanical properties that occur when a cold-worked metal is annealed must be associated to the onset of SRV. From a historical point of view, the term recovery has been used to describe all the microstructural changes “which do not involve the sweeping of the deformed structure by a migrating high-angle boundary” [1]. Even though the grain structure and texture during recovery do not change, the density and distribution of line defects are signi‰- cantly altered; however, the difference in recovery of different orientation components causes changes in statically recrystallized texture also. The amount of recovery of the mechanical properties that can be achieved (in the absence of SRX) depends on the degree of heterogeneity of dislocation substructures introduced during strain hardening. Such annealing is employed after ‰nal shaping to retain much of the strength while raising ductility to a speci‰ed minimum (Sections 1.1.2 and 12.3.2). However, SRV should not be confused with stress-relief annealing that involves rapid heating to a speci‰ed temperature in order to reduce internal stresses to the level of the high-T yield stress by plastic §ow. After several minutes it is followed by rapid cooling to ensure minimal change in microstructure.
