Regularities of structure and texture development in austenitic steel during cold rolling and heat treatment

Abstract

The paper studies the regularities of the structure and texture formation in austenitic steel AISI 304 under cold rolling and subsequent heat treatment. Regularities of structure and texture formation depending on the rolling type and deformation degree were established. The ratios of main texture components, the volume fractions and the distortion of the martensite's crystalline lattice were analyzed. It is shown that mechanisms of the austenite ĺ martensite phase transformation in the course of cold rolling may change depending on various deformation schemes, as well as mechanisms of the reverse phase transformation variate under subsequent annealing. Herewith depending on the rolling type and deformation degree, the crystallographic texture formation of the nucleating austenite under the heat treatment can have single component or multi-component character and follows different orientation relations. The more scattered martensite texture after deformation results in the formation of fine-dispersed austenite, which hardens the material keeping a sufficient level of plasticity.