Texture and anisotropic mechanical properties of ferritic stainless steel stabilized with Ti and Nb

Textures and anisotropic mechanical properties of the annealed Fe-17Cr ferritic stainless steel stabilized with Ti and Nb were examined using scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and tensile tests. The average size of the ferrite grains in the annealed steel sheets is about 36 mu m. Pole figure, inverse pole figure, and orientation distribution function by EBSD demonstrate that {111} annealing gamma-fiber texture, which is beneficial to the deep drawing, develops after rolling and annealing. Furthermore, in the gamma-fiber {111} texture, {111} < 112 > component is stronger than the {111} < 110 > component. The produced texture leads to the anisotropic mechanical properties in the annealed steel sheets. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength in the transverse direction is higher than that in the rolling direction, and the elongation in the transverse direction is lower than that in the rolling direction. Moreover, strain rate has little effect on the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation in both transverse direction and rolling direction.