Effects of Solubility Limit and the Presence of Ultra-Fine Al6Fe on the Kinetics of Grain Growth in Dilute Al-Fe Alloys

A nominally pure Al slab was thermo-mechanically treated to result in a near random texture of 90 m grain size. Subsequent cold rolling with intermediate anneals at 230, 275, and 300°C reduced the Fe solute to near equilibrium compositions below 0.5 ppm atomic. The final cold rolled sheet continuously recrystallized; grain growth of this structure is reported. A grain-growth kinetics mapping was generated, correlating the parameters of Fe-in-Al solubility limit, Fe diffusivities in the grain boundaries and the Al lattice and the activation energies for migration rates.