Evolution of the Recrystallization Texture in an IF Steel

Cold rolling experiments were carried out on an IF steel. The samples were partially and totally recrystallized in a muffle type vertical furnace at 650DGC for 30 and 45 seconds, 1, 2, 3 and 5 minutes in order to study the formation of the new recrystallization nuclei and their orientation relationships with the surrounding deformed matrix. Both microstructure and texture were examined by SEM. The texture was analyzed by Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Orientation Image Microscopy (OIM), and represented via the ODF method. The ODF for each sample was the input in a computer calculation specifically created to show the evolution of the principal orientations during annealing. The calculation showed that the first orientation that was formed was (110)[110], in agreement with the results obtained by others. This work aims at providing another tool to study recrystallization texture by using a computer program specifically created to show the evolution of the principal orientations during the annealing through the subtraction of the spherical harmonic series.