The impact of annealing temperature and time on the grain distribution and texture evolution of cold-rolled electric-furnace annealed low-carbon steel

•Low carbon steel was annealed at 700 or 800 °C for 5–10 min. in an electric furnace.•Lower annealing temperatures (700 °C) showed bimodal ferrite grain distribution.•Steel annealed at 700 °C for 5 min. exhibited detrimental cube texture, ND//〈001〉.•Increased annealing time and temperature led to strong γ-fiber, ND//〈111〉 .•Steel annealed at 800 °C for 10 min. showed the highest tensile elongation of 37 %. This study investigated the effect of annealing temperature and time on the grain distribution and textural development of commercial-grade low-carbon steel that undergone cold rolling and subsequent electric-furnace annealing at either 700 or 800 °C for 5 and 10 min. Scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction analyses of the annealed samples revealed equiaxed microstructures with cementite at the ferrite grain boundaries. The samples annealed at 700 °C for 5 and 10 min exhibited a bimodal grain distribution, while larger ferrite grains formed at 800 °C. The orientation distribution function texture of the sample annealed at 700 °C for 5 min exhibited both a γ-fiber ND//〈111〉 and a cube texture ND//〈001〉 . Raising the annealing temperature and time reduced the intensity of cube texture and strengthened the γ-fiber, increasing tensile elongation from 8 to 38 %.