Abstract: Evolution of microstructure and texture of 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel after cold rolling by continuous rolling and reversible rolling was investigated, and the surface ridging of the corresponding annealed sheet was comparatively analyzed. The microstructure and texture of the cold rolled and annealed sheets were characterized by using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The annealed sheet were subjected to 20% tensile deformation using a universal testing machine and the surface ridging profiles of the stretched specimens were characterized using laser confocal microscopy. The results show that after both continuous and reversible rolling, the texture of the cold rolled sheet consists of strong α-fibers and weak γ-fibers. After annealing, the reversibly rolled and annealed sheet has a stronger γ-fiber recrystallization texture. The reversibly cold rolled sheet has a greater degree of grain deformation, and after annealing, the microstructure orientation distribution and size distribution are more uniform. Comparing the surface ridging profile of the annealed sheet by the two rolling processes, the roughness of the annealed sheets by reversible rolling is reduced by 33% compared to continuous rolling, and the maximum height of the ridging is reduced by 45%, indicating that reversible rolling can improve the ridging resistance of ferritic stainless steel sheet.

Key words: cold rolling process, ferritic stainless steel, texture, surface ridging