Effect of through-thickness macro and micro-texture gradients on ridging of 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel sheet

In order to study the formation of ridging in ferritic stainless steel (FSS) sheets, the evolution of the crystallographic texture was investigated by macro and micro-texture measurements throughout the thickness of the sheets. The as-received hot band material displayed a pronounced through-thickness texture gradient with a strong rotated cube orientation in the sheet center layer. The initial texture of the hot band had a high impact on the formation of the cold rolling texture and on the final recrystallization texture. Modification of the cold rolling texture by means of cross-rolling led to an improvement of the macro and micro-textures after final recrystallization annealing, which gave rise to an enhanced sheet formability in FSS. Tensile tests of specimens with half thickness revealed that ridging formed in the sheet center was much stronger than that in the surface. This observation was attributed to the more frequent formation of orientation colonies in the sheet center when compared to the sheet surface.