Abstract
Steel rolling within the temperature range intermediate between hot and cold rolling represents today a very economical and technically viable operation. The present work investigates the microstructure and the texture developed in a Ti microalloyed IF steel by rolling at 400°C and 600°C. Reductions of 40% and 60% were applied to a set of as hot rolled strip specimens part of which was subsequently annealed at 800°C for 5 minutes. Both the microstructure and the texture were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The texture was analysed by Electron Back Scattering Diffraction (EBSD) and Orientation Image Microscopy (OIM), and represented via the ODF method. The plastic anisotropy was also characterised. It was found that the textures developed by warm rolling are similar to those obtained by cold rolling, the intensities being also of comparable value. The microstructure is characterised by the presence of many shear banded grains whose amount was also quantified.