Abstract
Changes in microstructure and texture are described in polycrystalline ice compressed at temperatures of –10 and –1℃ and annealed for various times at –1℃ without a load. The microstructures, obtained under these conditions, were studied by means of polarized light microscopy, both mean and maximum grain sizes were determined. In the colder finer grained samples (–10℃) the grain size increase during annealing was not as rapid as the coarser hot worked (–1°) samples. Little textural change was observed in the annealed hot worked samples, however the strong preferred orientation of the colder samples was destroyed with annealing. The change in texture corresponded to a decrease in the grain growth rate and the formation of a stable grain structure. Increasing strain and decreasing the deformation temperature both reduce annealing time and the annealed grain size.