EBSD and X-ray diffraction study on the recrystallization of cold rolled Ni3Al based intermetallic alloy

• EBSD study allows estimating fraction recrystallized in Ni3Al alloy.
• X-ray study allows analyzing ordering evolution upon post-deformation annealing.
• A restoration of the ordering takes place before the onset of the recrystallization.
• Ni3Al with low fraction recrystallized exhibited the best mechanical properties.

In the present paper, results of EBSD and X-ray diffraction study on the recrystallization of a cold rolled Ni3Al based intermetallic alloy, are shown. The investigated Zr- and B-doped Ni3Al based intermetallic alloy was subjected to the cold rolling process to 50% of a thickness reduction followed by an 1 h annealing at the 700–1100 °C temperature range. The EBSD grain orientation spread and grain boundary character distribution analysis allows calculating changes of the fraction recrystallized. A comparison of XRD results and changes of mechanical properties after annealing of the deformed material indicates a key role of the long range order (LRO). The best combination of the strength and ductility is exhibited by the material annealed for 1 h at 800 °C (TYS ∼ 830 MPa, UTS ∼ 1670 MPa and elongation close to 25%) which is characterized by a few percent of the fraction recrystallized while its LRO is restored to a significant degree (0.75).