Strain-induced selective growth in an ultra low carbon steel after a small rolling reduction

Abstract Recently, a consensus about the occurrence of selective growth during the final stages of recrystallization after severe cold rolling has been reached. The possible role of variant selection during this selective growth mechanism is still questioned. For this reason, a rolling and annealing experiment was carried out in which a ULC-steel after a first recrystallization treatment was submitted to three additional rolling passes with an accumulated reduction of 4.5%. In these three passes, the rolling direction was inclined at 0, 90 and 45°, respectively, with respect to the hot rolling direction in order to randomise the nucleation of recrystallization during a second annealing treatment. During this treatment, explosive grain growth occurred, which was associated with a texture evolution that promoted orientations that display the well-known 26.5° orientation relationship with respect to the initial texture. Almost all variants displaying this characteristic misorientation with respect to the parent component could be identified among the coarsened grains.