A microstructural process that occurs when cold-worked metal is heated. Tangled dislocations migrate and align into neat, low-angle boundaries, dividing highly strained grains into smaller, strain-free subgrains. This happens prior to full recrystallization.
Heard on the job
You can see the polygonization starting in this micrograph just before the recrystallization threshold.
Related terms
Polygonize
To rearrange internal crystal dislocations into low-angle subgrain boundaries.
Recrystallization
The formation of a new, strain-free grain structure in a cold-worked metal upon heating.
Cold work
To plastically deform a metal at temperatures below its recrystallization point to alter its properties.