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).