Deformation banding and formation of cube volumes in cold rolled fcc metals

It has recently been reported that in cold rolled copper, cube oriented volumes are frequently formed in long thin bands next to bands having orientations related to the cube orientation by a 30-40 rotation about a (111) common pole. This microstructure would suggest that during recrystallisation, a cube oriented nucleus in the deformed structure can grow easily into its neighbour owing to the special misorientation which allows a high boundary migration rate. In this paper the formation of this special microstructural arrangement is studied by a generalised deformation banding model which involves the cooperation of two types of deformation banding. The model also predicts that the cube volumes have lower energy contents than both their immediate and bulk average surroundings. These favourable factors explain the domination of cube recrystallisation texture. In addition, the formation and implication of the cube oriented volumes surrounded by material with near {112} (111) orientation, reported in aluminium, is also considered. © 1994 The Institute of Materials.