Influence of deformation inhomogeneity on the annealing behavior of drawn oxygen-free high conducting copper

Oxygen-free high conducting copper wires drawn to true strains of 2.3, 3.1, and 3.6 exhibit inhomogeneity in the form of three distinct concentric regimes: the inner core, the midsection, and the outer region. While the microtexture of the inner core was dominated by a strong <111> + weak <100> duplex fiber texture, the midsection and the outer region had a comparatively weaker texture. An upper bound plasticity modeling and the nanohardness measurement revealed that the midsection was the most strained region. Upon annealing at 170 °C, the 2.3-strained wire did not recrystallize, whereas the 3.1- and 3.6-strained wires exhibited partial recrystallization. For the 3.6 wire, the inner core was unrecrystallized, while the midsection and outer region recrystallized with strong <100> + weak <111> fiber texture. The recrystallized grains were classified as type A grains, which grew laterally with <100>//DD orientation, and type B grains, which generally grew axially with <111>//DD orientation.