Textures and precipitates in Ti-stabilized interstitial-free steel

Samples of titanium-stabilized interstitial-free steel were coiled at 600 and 700 °C. The effect of the coiling temperature on the formation of textures and precipitates during coiling, cold rolling and recrystallization annealing was studied by means of neutron texture measurements, small angle neutron scattering analysis and transmission electron microscopy observations. Whereas coiling at the lower temperature resulted in an insufficient scavenging of carbon in solid solution, coiling at the higher temperature promoted scavenging of carbon in solid solution, and consequently the formation of a large number of precipitates. The large amount of carbon in solid solution caused the retardation of softening in the cold-rolled sample during annealing below 700 °C. Upon annealing above 700 °C the impact of the coiling temperature on grain size and precipitates was not observed. The samples coiled at different temperatures exhibited a nearly identical cold rolling texture. However, the cold-rolled sample having a large amount of carbon in solid solution displayed a weak recrystallization texture.