The physical processes that fall under the designations of recovery, recrystallization and grain growth are often difficult to distinguish in a precise manner. Doherty et al. (1998) stated:
Thus the process can be differentiated from recrystallization and grain growth as both feature extensive movement of high-angle grain boundaries.
If recovery occurs during deformation (a situation that is common in high-temperature processing) then it is referred to as dynamic while recovery that occurs after processing is termed static. The principal difference is that during dynamic recovery, stored energy continues to be introduced even as it is decreased by the recovery process - resulting in a form of dynamic equilibrium.