Recrystallisation behaviour of supersaturated Al–Mn alloys Part 2 – Al–0.3 wt-%Mn

The deformation microstructures and local textures in a high purity Al–0.3 wt–%Mn alloy with two different initial grain sizes, have been investigated after cold rolling and annealing, using high resolution electron backscattered diffraction. It was found that in contrast to a recently investigated Al–1.3 wt–%Mn alloy, recrystallisation preceded precipitation, and that the deformation and recrystallisation were generally similar to other single phase aluminium alloys. In the large grained material, it was found that the evolution of the deformation microstructure was strongly dependent on the grain orientation, and that this in turn strongly affected the grain size, texture, and heterogeneity of the material on recrystallisation. In contrast, the finer grained material developed more homogeneous microstructures, and the deformation and annealing textures were typical of those reported for dilute aluminium alloys.