RECRYSTALLIZATION

Recrystallization is a microstructural transformation which occurs in crystalline materials, and is a particularly important feature of the "thermomechanical processing" of metals.

When a metal is deformed, defects are created, which make the material intrinsically unstable.  On heating the metal to a sufficiently high temperature, the process of recrystallization removes most of the defects by creating a new arrangement of crystals or grains. The size and crystallographic alignment of these grains affects the properties of the material.

Professor John Humphreys