RECOVERY

This describes the processes that lead to a recovery of mechanical properties, since deformation of polycrystalline aggregates at low temperature typically leads to the material gaining in strength (because the dislocations get tangled and can no longer move freely). Recovery processes are enhanced at higher temperatures, and occur both during deformation and subsequent to it, but are typically swamped by deformation processes during deformation. There are a number of competing processes that can lead to the observation of a recovered mechanical state, these being annihilation, slips and polygonization.