Texture Formation in High Strength Low Alloy Steel Reheated with Ultrafast Heating Rates

Abstract

Texture formation during annealing of a 95% cold rolled HSLA steel with 10°C/s and ~3000°C/s was studied with the purpose to investigate the interaction between the recrystallization and the austenite formation as well as the possibility of grain refinement. The recrystallization and austenite formation were monitored by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It was found that at extreme reheating rates of 1000°C/s and higher, the α-γ phase transformation starts before the completion of recrystallization and the deformation texture is partially retained in the samples after annealing. The crystallographic texture observed in the martensitic phase which is the product of intercritical austenite transformation in as-quenched samples, i.e. after the double α-γ-α’ transformation, is the same as the initial cold rolling texture, which is an indication for the texture memory effect. After ultra fast reheating with average reheating rates of 1000°C/s and higher a significant grain refinement was observed with an average ferrite grain size of ~1µm. The obtained final ferrite grain size depends significantly on both the reheating temperature and the reheating rate.