Cross-rolling of low-carbon steel: experiments and high-fidelity polycrystal modeling for texture evolution

Abstract Cross-rolling experiments were done on DC01 low-carbon steel for two different routes, as well as in conventional rolling, in six passes, at room temperature, down to 76% thickness reduction. The crystallographic textures were measured using X-ray technique and analyzed in pole figures along with orientation distribution functions, near the surface of the sheet, and in the middle section. Large difference was found in the texture intensity; it was much higher in the middle section than near the surface, due to the shear strain component. A new flow-line model was constructed to obtain the velocity gradient field in the deformation zone, which was introduced into the viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) polycrystal model for predicting the crystallographic texture. The tilts of the textures were reproduced for all strain paths which were due to the shear component inherent in the flow field, not from a surface friction with the roll. Dislocation cross-slip was also implemented into the VPSC code, which changed the relative intensities of the texture components. An orientation flow-map was constructed in Euler space which helped the interpretation of the position and intensity variations of the $$\alpha$$ α and $$\gamma$$ γ fibers for cross-rolling. The effect of cross-rolling is a strong rotated-cube component and changes in the shape of the γ fiber: from concave to convex, or inclined, depending on the route. The experimental textures were faithfully reproduced by the polycrystal modeling, up to 97% quantitative agreement between the simulated and experimental textures.