Materials Science Forum, Vol.495-497, 387-392, 2005
Cube texture formed in biaxially rolled low-carbon steel
Cube texture ({001}< 100 >) influences extensively the plastic anisotropy and physical properties of materials. Researches on cube texture have been concentrated in fc.c structured metals only since the scarce observation of the texture in b.c.c. metals. In the present work, the cube texture was found to be developed in low-carbon steel under the biaxial rolling mode (ND and TD rolling alternatively). Cube texture and {112}-{111}< 110 > partially concentrated alpha-fiber texture were observed in biaxially rolled samples instead of the typical alpha-fiber and gamma-fiber texture formed in the normal flat-rolling. At 923K rolling where recrystallization occurred, highly developed {001}< 110 > recrystallization texture with some y-fiber texture was observed in the flat rolled sample. In contrast a quite intensified cube texture and {hkl}< 110 > texture were observed in the biaxially rolled sample. EBSD measurement showed the fraction of grains belonging to the two orientations was 0.35 and 0.55, respectively. Elongated along RD, grains in cube texture showed both the near-equiaxial and diagonally elongated shapes when observed from RD in the 923K rolled samples. Those grains containing lighter plastic strain had an average grain size (-1.5p,m) which was 2 times larger than the grains in the RD//< 110 > texture. Meanwhile, the cube oriented grains were characteristic of only low-angle grain boundaries (< 15 degrees), but showed a specific misorientation (E17b, < 110 > 86.6) with the grains in the RD//< 110 > texture. Besides rolling deformation produced cube oriented grains, preferential growth of cube oriented recrystallization nuclei, and the transformation of the {001}< 110 > recrystallization grains were considered to cause the development of cube texture during the 923K biaxial rolling.