Patricia Gobernado

Texture Control in Non-Oriented Electrical Steels by Severe Plastic Deformation

Although plenty of research has already been carried out on the issue of texture control in non-oriented electrical steels, there is not yet a universally applied industrial process to obtain an optimized {001} fibre texture. Among the various laboratory processes that have been studied so far, cross rolling seems to be one of the most promising approaches. For evident reasons cross-rolling cannot be implemented on a conventional continuous rolling line of an industrial plant. In the present study a potential interesting alternative is presented which may deliver a similar texture evolution as the cross rolling process, but can be applied in a continuous line of hot and cold rolling operations followed by recrystallization annealing. By applying severe rolling reductions a very strong rotated cube texture is obtained very much similar to the one that is observed after cross rolling. After annealing, the rotated cube texture changes to a {h11}<1/h,21> fibre texture with a maximum on the {311}<136> component which implies the potential to develop a {001} fibre texture after further processing. It is argued that the appearance of the {311}<136> recrystallization texture component can be attributed to oriented nucleation in the vicinity of grain boundaries between slightly misoriented rotated cube grains.

Origin of the {h 1 1 } Fiber in Single Phase Ferrite Steels

In the present work, the oriented nucleation origin of the recrystallized {h11}<1/h,1,2> fibre is characterized. Aiming to investigate the substructural evolution of <110>//RD fibre grains and {001}<110> grains in particular, a detailed microstructure and texture analysis is performed by high resolution orientation scanning microscopy on a cross-rolled sample. The reason to work with cross-rolled material is the increased incidence of rotated cube orientations after cross rolling. The present data have revealed the presence in the deformed substructure of a crystallite volume that has rotated towards the {311}<136> component in the interior of <110>//RD fibre grains as a result of a grain fragmentation process. Preliminary simulations of the deformation texture suggested that the observed orientation fragmentation might be produced by strain localizations of a shear band nature.

Microstructure and Texture Optimization in Fe-Si Ferritic Steels

The ferromagnetic properties of ferritic steels are known to strongly depend on the direction of magnetization. The <100> are the axes of spontaneous magnetic moments and hence the directions of easy magnetization. Materials displaying a <100>//ND texture are ideal not only for transformer but also for rotating machines due to their isotropic magnetic character. In the present study the potential of severe plastic rolling deformation is investigated. The cold rolling and annealing microstructures and textures are identified with increasing rolling strains to a maximum vM equivalent of 8.0. It is shown that excessive rolling reduction is capable of producing non-conventional texture components with promising potential for magnetic applications.

Correlation between boundary energy and grain boundary character distribution in Fe-based polycrystals

The grain boundary energy anisotropy in BCC Fe-based polycrystals is considered. The correlation between the energy in BCC random grain boundaries and the distribution of grain boundary planes in the bulk was examined with a special attention on the presence of low index (low surface energy) planes in the internal surfaces. For a BCC structure, {100} and {110} planes are known to be the lowest energy planes dominating the equilibrium crystal shapes. Experimental evidences demonstrated that these planes were predominant in the texture of surfaces controlled by surface energy [2]. Moreover, the relation between the grain boundary character distribution and the crystallographic dependence on the grain boundary energy in the bulk after annealing treatment was studied. The grain character boundary distribution (GCBD) was calculated using the crystallographic information obtained from OIM-EBSD maps from samples showing columnar grains. Preliminary results showed no particular distribution trend within the standard stereographic triangle (001-101-111).

Recrystallization Texture of Ferrite Steels: Beyond the γ-Fibre

The recrystallization texture of highly cold deformed IF steels is addressed. The latter is characterized by the //ND fibre and a certain spread towards the {311} orientation. The //ND fibre is the optimum texture for enhanced deep-drawing properties whereas the presence of any other component, such as {311}, will deteriorate the plastic anisotropy of the material. Previous works concluded that the recrystallized {311} orientation results from an oriented nucleation process related to the plastic instability of {001} deformed grains. In the present work, the microstructural nature of such plastic instability is investigated by high resolution orientation scanning microscopy on an annealed IF sample after cross-rolling. Present data indicate that localized deformation in near {001} grains plays an essential role in the nucleation of {311} orientations.

The Use of Rodrigues-Frank Space for Representing Discrete Misorientation Distributions

It is often assumed that the texture formation during solid state transformations in low carbon steels critically depends on the local crystallographic misorientation at the interface between transformed and not yet transformed material volume. In some cases, a theoretical crystallographic orientation relation can be presumed as a necessary prerequisite for the transformation to occur. Classical examples of such misorientation conditions in steel metallurgy are the orientation relations between parent and product grains of the allotropic phase transformation from austenite to ferrite (or martensite) or the hypothetical <110>26.5º misorientation between growing nuclei and disappearing grains in a recrystallization process. One way to verify the validity of such misorientation conditions is to carry out an experiment in which the transformation is partially completed and then observe locally, at the transformation interface, whether or not the presumed crystallographic condition is complied with. Such an experiment will produce a large set of misorientation data. As each observed misorientation Dg is represented by a single point in the Rodrigues-Frank (RF) space, a distribution of discrete misorientation points is obtained. This distribution is compared with the reference misorientation Dgr, corresponding to a specific physical condition, by determining the number fraction dn of misorientations that are confined within a narrow misorientation volume element dw around the given reference misorientation Dgr. In order to evaluate whether or not the proposed misorientation condition is obeyed, the number fraction dn of the experimentally measured distribution must be compared with the number fractions dr obtained for a random misorientation distribution. The ratio dn/dr can be interpreted as the number intensity fi of the given reference misorientation Dgr. This method was applied on the observed local misorientations between the recrystallizing grains growing into the single crystal matrix of a Fe-2.8%Si alloy. It was found that the number intensity of the <110>26.5º misorientation increased with a factor 10 when the misorientation distribution was evaluated before and after the growth stage. In another example the method was applied to the misorientations measured at the local interface between parent austenite and product martensite grains of a partially transformed Fe-28%Ni alloy. It could be established that the Nishiyama- Wasserman relations ({111}g//{110}a <112>g//<110>a) prevail over the Kurdjumov-Sachs relations ({111}g//{110}a and <110>g//<111>a) although a considerable scatter was observed around either of the theoretical correspondences. A full parametric misorientation description was also applied to evaluate the relative grain boundary energies associated with a set of crystallographic misorientations observed near triple junctions in Fe-2%Si. In this instance it was found that the boundaries carrying a misorientation of the type <110>w carry a lower interfacial energy than the <100> or <111> type boundaries.

Orientation Gradients in α-Fibre Grains of Cold Rolled IF Steels

The plastic behavior of the <110>//RD orientations, and specially that of the {001}<110> orientation, under severe cold reductions is addressed. Based on the orientation dependence of the stored energy, the {001}<110> orientation is known to lack from structured misorientation gradients and significant dislocation storage after plastic deformation which makes the former orientation not particularly prone to enhancing the recrystallization process. Recent evidences, however, indicate that {001}<110> orientation plays a relevant role in the origin of {h11}<1/h,1,2> orientations (predominantly {311}<136> and {411}<148> orientations) observed in the recrystallization texture of severely deformed IF steels. The complete understanding of the development of the recrystallized {h11}<1/h,1,2> orientations in IF steels is, therefore, of relevance as it deteriorates the optimum γ-fibre texture required for deep-drawability applications. The plastic instability of {001}<110> grains in a cross-rolled IF steel is evaluated in the present work. The extensive characterization of the deformed substructure along with partially recrystallized data confirmed the oriented nucleation origin of {h11}<1/h,1,2> orientations from deformed {001}<110> grains. Innovative crystal plasticity calculations accounting for the position of the grain boundary plane suggested that the recrystallized {h11}<1/h,1,2> orientations could result from a low Taylor value nucleation criterion.

Structural dependence of grain boundary energy in Fe-based polycrystals identified by OIM measurements

The (relative) grain boundary energy of random high angle boundaries has been measured in several Fe-based polycrystals. Crystallographic data obtained by orientation contrast microscopy (OIM) are combined with the geometrical configuration of grain boundaries at triple junctions. A two-parameter representation of the relative grain boundary energy in terms of misorientation angle and misorientation axis is presented. In the applied procedure a variation of the energy values assigned to one boundary was observed depending on the triangulation path chosen by the operator to connect the arbitrary initial boundary with the boundary under consideration. Results show no evidence of correspondence between the observed energy cusps and the presence of CSL boundaries.