Texture Evolution of Ferritic (AlSl 430) Stainless Steel Strips during Cold Rolling, Annealing and Drawing

The evolution of the crystallographic texture of ferritic stainless steels, starting from the as received (hot rolled) condition from the steel mill, going through cold rolling, annealing and final stamping is analyzed in this paper. Two ferritic stainless steels (Nb stabilized) having a thickness of 3.0 and 0.7mm, have been employed. The thicker one has been cold rolled to 40 and 73% thickness reduction, annealed at 750 and 850°C for 1 hour. The thinner one, with a similar composition, has been 77% cold rolled and annealed at 870°C at the steel plant and subsequently submitted to deep drawing in order to evaluate texture and drawability. Texture has been evaluated using DRX in the as received, cold rolled, annealed and after drawing conditions. Drawability has been evaluated using tensile testing in order to obtain the FLC curves. AISI 430 stainless steel, in the as received condition presented a strong {100} texture in the <110> and <120> directions and the gamma fiber. After cold rolling, the material presented stronger gamma and weaker alpha fibers. Annealing of the cold rolled samples conduced to the vanishing of the alpha and strengthening of the gamma fiber, adequate for deep drawing operations. In spite of the AISI 430 of 0.7mm having presented a strong gamma fiber, other deep drawing properties were not adequate and the material cracked during stamping.