Crystal Plasticity Analysis of the Orientation-Dependent Grain Rotation and Fragmentation Behaviors in Ferritic Stainless Steel During Cold Rolling

The cold rolling behavior of ferritic stainless steel was investigated via crystal plasticity analysis to clarify the effects of initial orientation and neighboring grain interaction on grain rotation and fragmentation behaviors. The analysis revealed that the {112} < 110 > orientation grain tends to maintain its initial orientation after cold rolling. However, the {110} < 001 > orientation grain completely disappeared at 80% cold rolling thickness reduction. The {110} < 001 > orientation grain had high deformation sensitivity. The four initial orientation grains tend to rotated toward the line connecting < 001 > and < 111 > , eventually stabilizing at < 111 > //normal direction (ND). Grains rotate in the following path: < 117 >  →  < 113 >  →  < 112 >  →  < 223 >  →  < 111 > . The dislocation density is different between grains near the grain boundary region and those farther away. The near < 111 > //ND deformation microstructure region has a lower dislocation density compared to the region near < 110 > //ND. Furthermore, the {111} < 110 > orientation grain exhibited significant grain fragmentation, while the {001} < 110 > orientation grain eventually forms the < 110 > //rolling direction (RD) deformation microstructure without significant fragmentation. The initial orientation {110} < 001 > grain resulted in a double fiber deformation texture with < 111 > //ND and < 110 > //RD orientations. This grain has grain fragmentation features corresponding to the initial {111} < 110 > and {001} < 110 > orientations. These findings are important for understanding the deformation behavior of grains in polycrystalline materials, as well as for designing high-performance metals by controlling the initial microstructure during cold rolling.

Graphical abstract