Evolution of texture and development of ∑3 n grain clusters in 316 austenitic stainless steel during thermal mechanical processing

A type 316 austenitic stainless steel sheet with various texture components along its thickness was slightly cold-rolled and then sequentially annealed at 1000 °C for 80 and 150 min. The evolution of texture and the development of grain clusters in which the grains are interfaced by ∑3 n (n = 0, 1, 2, 3…) boundaries (∑3 n GC) were studied by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the texture difference along the thickness was minimized, and large (greater than 400 μ) ∑3 n GCs developed after cold rolling and annealing. In situ EBSD examination revealed that each ∑3 n GC was developed by the oriented-growth (OG) of brass ({110} $$ \langle 112\rangle $$ ), copper ({112} $$ \langle 111\rangle $$ ) and C1 ({114} $$ \langle 041\rangle $$ ) orientations (including their geometric variants). These orientations are intrinsically related to ∑3 n misorientations. The abutting ∑3 n GCs with grains of nearly the same or ∑3 n -related orientations usually merged into a larger ∑3 n GC or resulted in an effective disruption of the connectivity of the random high angle grain boundary network.