Formation and development of Goss texture in Al–Cu–Mg alloy during solution treatment

In order to obtain the strong Goss texture in the final product of Al–Cu–Mg alloy sheet, texture evolution and related mechanisms during solution treatment were investigated by macro- and micro-texture characterization techniques and new insights into Goss texture formation and development were obtained. The results show that the Goss texture formed from annealing recrystallization can further evolve into the stronger Goss texture during solution treatment. This Goss increment phenomenon attributes to the following two aspects. First, this is due to the recrystallized/substructured Goss grains growing into deformed Brass grains. In this case, the Σ9 boundary between Goss and Brass grains only shows the little mobility advantage during solution treatment. Thus, this mechanism is only part of reason for Goss increment, not a predominated one as it exists during annealing. Second, recrystallized Goss grain can slowly grow into substructured random grains, also partly leading to the increase of Goss texture. In addition, particles stimulated nucleation (PSN) effect on Goss texture formation and development was also revealed in details. It is suggested that the PSN effect by large Fe-rich phases restricts Goss grain nucleation and its subsequent growth, but is beneficial for the formation and subsequent growth of random-oriented nucleus. On the contrary, the PSN effect caused by relatively small θ and S phases won’t hinder the development of Goss texture.