Live grain growth study using Laue Microdiffraction

Understanding grain growth is critical because grain size and morphology directly influence the mechanical, thermal, and corrosion-related properties of metallic materials. Grain growth kinetics and mechanisms in ferritic steels are strongly dependent on the local neighborhood of each grain. In partially recrystallized microstructures, recrystallized grains evolve in the presence of a substantial unrecrystallized matrix and substructure characterized by high stored energy, high geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density, and heterogeneous boundary character. By contrast, in fully recrystallized states, curvature-driven growth in a comparatively relaxed matrix is expected to dominate. Distinguishing how the surrounding microstructure (partially recrystallized versus fully recrystallized) modifies grain boundary mobility, local driving forces, and growth exponents is essential for constitutive modeling of annealing and for process optimization.