The Cube Texture Revisited

Abstract

The cube texture in rolled and annealed fcc metals and alloys has long fascinated metallurgists because of its high symmetry and extreme sharpness. This paper demonstrates and analyses the texture perfection that is developed in a copper sample. Reasons that have been advanced to explain the development of the texture during recrystallisation and grain growth are discussed. Orientation selectivity is favoured during growth but more particularly in the nucleation stage. Especial attention is paid to the rapid recovery which cube oriented crystals undergo on heating after plane strain deformation and which is the basis for its uniquely preferential nucleation. Various metallurgical factors are known to affect the strength of the cube texture in practice and explanations for some of these are presented.