Effect of continuous annealing temperature on microstructure and properties of ferritic rolled interstitial-free steel

In this report, the microstructure, mechanical properties, and textures of warm rolled interstitial-free steel annealed at four different temperatures (730, 760, 790, and 820℃) were studied. The overall structural features of specimens were investigated by optical microscopy, and the textures were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Nano-sized precipitates were then observed by a transmission electron microscope (TEM) on carbon extraction replicas. According to the results, with increased annealing temperatures, the ferrite grains grew; in addition, the sizes of Ti₄C₂S₂ and TiC precipitates also increased. Additionally, the sizes of TiN and TiS precipitates slightly changed. When the annealing temperature increased from 730 to 820℃, the yield strength (YS) and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) showed a decreasing trend. Meanwhile, elongation and the strain harden exponent (n value) increased to 49.6% and 0.34, respectively. By comparing textures annealed at different temperatures, the intensity of 111 texture annealed at 820℃ was the largest, while the difference between the intensity of 111<110> and 111<112> was the smallest when the annealing temperature was 820℃. Therefore, the plastic strain ratio (r value) annealed at 820℃ was the highest.