Cold rolling texture in AISI 304 stainless steel

Evolution of texture during cold rolling of austenitic AISI 304 stainless steel is presented here. The annealed steel plate has been unidirectionally cold rolled up to 90% reductions under two different rolling conditions. Effect of rolling conditions on transformation of austenite to strain-induced alpha' martensite phase and evolution of texture in both the phases have been studied as a function of rolling reduction. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique has been employed to quantify the volume fractions of austenite and martensite phases and to study the textural development in the steel in rolled conditions. Optical and transmission electron microscopy studies have been carried out to see the microstructural changes due to cold rolling. Texture in the alpha' martensite is found to be governed by the initial texture of the parent austenite phase according to the Kurdjumov-Sachs relationship, even up to maximum deformation levels. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.