Cross-Sectional Texture Gradients in Interstitial Free Steels Processed by Accumulated Roll Bonding
An interstitial-free steel was severely plastically deformed in an accumulative roll bonding (ARB) experiment with 10 consecutive passes applied at 480°C. Nominal reductions of 50% per pass and an intermediate annealing treatment of 5 min. at 520°C were employed. A total true strain of evM = 8.00 was applied, which corresponds to an accumulated reduction of 99.9%. The evolution of texture and microstructure was monitored by means of orientation imaging microscopy. A lamellar microstructure, characteristic of severely rolled sheet materials, was observed even after the highest strains. The average lamellar width was determined as a function of rolling strain. Under the experimental limitations in terms of spatial resolution, no significant difference was observed between the average lamellar width in the mid-section and near the surface of the sheet. Texture analysis revealed a conventional cross-sectional gradient with plane strain rolling components in the mid-layers and shear components in the subsurface regions. Although these different strain modes did not affect the microstructure in terms of the average lamellar spacing, an effect was observed on the average aspect ratio of the grains. This was much higher in the sheared (surface) layers than in the plane strain compressed (centre) areas. The surface structure did not have an effect, though, on the bulk microstructural evolution in spite of the specific nature of the ARB process during which the surface layer of one pass reappears in the mid-section of the next pass.