Texture evolution of an Al-8Zn alloy during ECAP and post-ECAP isothermal annealing

Highlights: • Texture evolution during ECAP and post-ECAP annealing was investigated by EBSD. • Special attention is the influence of recovery and recrystallization on ECAP texture. • During deformation, the coarse grains rotate towards ideal ECAP texture orientations. • The weakening of ECAP texture with increasing strains is attributed to CDRX. • Recovery and recrystallization do not change orientations of the major ECAP texture. -- Abstract: In this work, the texture evolution of an Al-8 wt% Zn alloy during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and post-ECAP isothermal annealing was systematically investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Special attention is paid to the influence of static recovery and recrystallization on ECAP texture. After 1 pass of ECAP, the sample shows a texture similar to the ideal shear texture. During further deformation, the less deformed coarse grains rotate towards ideal ECAP texture orientations. After 5 passes of ECAP, the main texture component can still be depicted by fibers f1-f3. However, the f1, f2 and f3 fibers become less completed, indicating the fading of f1-f3 fibers. The weakening of ECAP texture with increasing deformation strains is attributed to continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX). Isothermal annealing treatments of the as-ECAPed 5P samples at 200 °C and 350 °C show that the static recovery and recrystallization do not change orientations of the major ECAP texture components. Instead, a full recrystallization and subsequent grain growth lead to a slight increase in the maximum intensity of ECAP texture.