The relationship of microstructure and texture to rolling direction in cold-rolled metastable austenitic steel

The microstructures and textures of strain-induced martensite and deformed austenite contained within metastable austenitic steel were investigated under unidirectional rolling and cross-rolling conditions. Under unidirectional rolling, the laths of α′ martensite that were produced were uniformly thinner with increasing thickness reduction. On the other hand, under cross-rolling, the resulting martensite laths varied in width, were irregularly bent, or were changed into polygonal cells. Deformed austenite possessed a similar texture showing an α _fcc-fiber regardless of the rolling conditions. However, for α′ martensite, the {001}〈110〉 _α orientation was strongly developed in cross-rolled specimens, while {115}〈110〉 _α and {335}〈110〉 _α evolved under unidirectional rolling.