Texture Evolution during Recrystallisation of Cold Rolled TWIP Steel

A TWinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel was cold rolled to 42% thickness reduction followed by isochronal annealing for 300 s between 600-850 degrees C. Bulk texture evolution during recrystallisation was investigated by X-Ray Diffraction. While the development of the alpha-fibre after cold rolling is typical of low stacking fault energy materials, anomalously higher intensities were noted for the Goss ({110}< 001 >) compared to Brass ({110}< 112 >) orientations. Upon recrystallisation, the main rolling texture components were retained and ascribed to nucleation at orientations close to those of the deformed matrix followed by annealing twinning which leads to crystallographically identical variants. Unlike previous texture investigations on austenitic steels, the relatively homogeneous deformation microstructure and uniform distribution of subsequent nucleation sites led to the retention of the F ({111}< 112 >) orientation. Moreover, the firsthand observation of the Rotated Copper ({112}< 011 >) orientation in TWIP steel is attributed to the second order twinning of the A ({110} < 111 >) orientation.