Formation of annealing twins during recrystallization and grain growth in 304L austenitic stainless steel

Understanding of the mechanisms of annealing twin formation is fundamental for grain boundary engineering. In this work, the formation of annealing twins in a 304L austenitic stainless steel is examined in relation to the thermo-mechanical history. The behaviour of annealing twins of various morphologies is analysed using an in-situ annealing device and EBSD. The results confirm that there is a synergistic effect of prior strain level on annealing twin density generated during recrystallization. The higher the prior strain level, the higher the velocity of grain boundary migration and the higher the annealing twin density in the recrystallized grains. This effect decreases as the recrystallization fraction increases. The existing mathematical models (Pande's model and Gleiter's model), which were established to predict annealing twin density in the grain growth regime, can not predict this phenomenon.