Texture development and hardening characteristics of steel sheets under plane-strain compression

Crystallographic texture development and hardening characteristics of a hot-rolled, low-carbon steel sheet due to cold rolling were investigated by idealizing the cold rolling process as plane-strain compression. The starting anisotropy of the test material was characterized by examination of the grain structure by optical microscopy and the preferred crystal orientation distribution by x-ray diffraction. Various heat treatments were used in an effort to remove the initial deformation texture resulting from hot rolling. The plastic anisotropy of the starting material was investigated with tensile tests on samples with the tensile axis parallel, 45°, and perpendicular to the rolling direction. The grain structure after plane-strain compression was studied by optical microscopy, and the new deformation texture was characterized by x-ray diffraction pole figures. These figures are compared with the theoretical pole figures produced from a Taylor-like polycrystal model based on a pencil-glide slip system. The uniaxial tensile stress-strain curve and the plane-strain, compressive stress-strain curve of the sheet were used to calibrate the material parameters in the model. The experimental pole figures were consistent with the findings in the theoretical study. The experimental and theoretical results suggest that the initial texture due to hot rolling was insignificant as compared with the texture induced by large strains under plane-strain compression.