Annealing behavior in a high-pressure torsion-processed Fe–9Cr steel

A Fe–9Cr steel containing second-phase particles was processed by ten rotations of high-pressure torsion (HPT) to produce a microstructure consisting of pancake-shaped nanoscaled grains with dominantly high-angle boundaries. Annealing was carried out on the HPT-processed Fe–9Cr steel from 500 to 700 °C up to 48 h. During the annealing, grains grew in a continuous manner. During high-temperature annealing (above 600 °C), a higher fraction of low-angle boundaries was observed when texture J became the dominant texture component. The annealing behavior of the HPT-processed Fe–9Cr steel was compared to that of the equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP)-processed Fe–9Cr steel. It was found ECAP Fe–9Cr showed a different grain growth mode, i.e., discontinuous growth, and a higher degree of thermal stability. Our studies provide insights into how the annealing behavior is affected by the microstructure and texture evolution.