recovery stage of annealing, the physical and mechanical properties that suffered

changes as a result of cold working tend to recover their original values. For many
years, the fact that hardness and other properties could be altered without an apparent
change in the microstructure, as signified by recrystallization, was regarded as a mystery.
That the various physical and mechanical properties do not recover their values at the
same rate is indicative of the complicated nature of the recovery process. Figure 8.6
shows another anisothermal anneal curve corresponding to the energy released on
heating cold-worked polycrystalline nickel.3 The peak at point c defines the region of
recrystallization. The fraction of the energy released during recovery in this metal is
much larger than that in the example of Fig. 8.2. Plotted on the same diagram are curves
indicating the change in electrical resistivity and hardness as a function of the annealing
temperature. Notice that the resistivity is almost completely recovered before the
state of recrystallization. On the other hand, the major change in the hardness occurs
simultaneously with recrystallization of the matrix.