Comparison of equal channel angular pressing and cold rolling in the evolution of microstructure and texture in zirconium

Evolution characteristics of the microstructure and texture of severely deformed commercial purity Zr702 were studied. The mode of the severe deformation was either heavy cold rolling or equal channel angular (ECA) pressing. Equiaxed grains, present prior to the deformation, became elongated during deformation along the rolling direction or along the maximum shear direction for the case of cold rolling or that of ECA pressing, respectively. ECA pressing transformed the initial fiber texture to a quite different component, which was also the case for cold rolling. In both cases, the maximum intensity of texture increased with the amount of deformation. Complete recrystallization was realized upon subsequent heat treatment lasting 100 min. at 600°C, and the evolution characteristics of texture and microstructure were also similar for both modes of deformation. These similarities in the microstructure and texture were attributed to the particular route of ECA pressing employed in the present study, i.e., route A. It is therefore concluded that the deformation and annealing behaviors in this particular route of ECA pressing are essentially very close to those of cold rolling.