Microstructure and Texture Evolution in Thermomechanically Processed FCC Metals and Alloys: a Review

The stacking fault energy (SFE) of face-centered cubic (FCC) alloys is a critical parameter that controls microstructural and crystallographic texture evolution during deformation and annealing treatments. This review focuses on several FCC alloys, aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), austenitic stainless steels (ASSs), and high entropy alloys (HEAs), all of which exhibit varying SFEs. These alloys are often subjected to thermo-mechanical processing (TMP) to enhance their mechanical properties. TMP leads to the evolution of deformation-induced products, such as shear bands (SBs), strain-induced martensite (SIM), and mechanical/deformation twins (DTs) during plastic deformation, while also influencing crystallographic texture. High-medium SFE materials, such as Al and Cu, typically exhibit the evolution of Copper-type texture during room temperature rolling (RTR), while low SFE materials, such as ASSs and HEAs, display Brass-type texture at high reduction ratios. Moreover, the presence of second-phase particles/precipitates can also impact the microstructure and texture evolution in Al and Cu alloys. Particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) during the annealing treatment has been reported for Al, Cu, ASSs, and HEAs, which causes texture weakening. Another interesting observation in severely deformed Cu alloys is the room-temperature softening phenomenon, which is discussed in the reviewed work. Additionally, plastic deformation and heat treatment of ASSs result in phase transformation, which was not observed in Al, Cu, or HEAs. Furthermore, the dependence of special boundaries in HEAs on plastic deformation temperature, strain rate, and annealing temperature is also discussed. Thus, this review comprehensively reports on the impact of TMP on microstructural and crystallographic texture evolution during plastic deformation and the annealing treatment of Al, Cu, ASSs, and HEAs FCC materials, using results obtained from electron microscopy.