Grain boundary plane distributions in a cold rolled and annealed high purity iron

High purity (99.99%) iron samples were cold rolled with a thickness reduction of 87% followed by a annealing at 620 °C for 15 and 45 min, then the grain boundary plane distributions were characterized by electron backscatter diffraction and a stereology and statistics based five parameter analysis. The results showed that the grain boundary planes were mainly distributed on (1 0 0) and such distribution was enhanced obviously when the holding time of annealing increased from 15 to 45 min during which an extensive grain growth and a dramatic texture evolution took place. Further analysis indicated such distribution was largely due to the rotation of grain boundary planes of the [1 0 0] misoriented grains. Additionally, it was also observed that some random boundaries of [1 0 0] misoriented grains were changing from asymmetrical tilt into (1 0 0)/(− 1 0 0) twist when annealing proceeded from 15 to 45 min. Based on the present work and the results reported by other investigators, it was suggested that the chemistry appeared to be critical in determining the grain boundary plane distribution in iron based materials. - Highlights: •Grain boundary (GB) plane distribution (GBPD) in a high purity (99.99%) was studied. •GB planes are mainly distributed on (1 0 0) in the cold rolled and annealed samples. •Such distribution is largely due to the rotation of GB planes of [100] misoriented grains. •Some [1 0 0] asymmetrical tilt boundaries are evolving into twist ones during annealing.