The influence of rapid annealing cycles on the recrystallisation behaviour of cold rolled ultra low carbon and low carbon steel

For ultra low carbon (ULC) and low carbon steel (LC), the influence of heating rate, annealing temperature, and holding time on the recrystallisation behaviour and the resulting grain size was investigated. For ULC smallest grain sizes of about 9 μm were obtained at the lowest heating rate whereas for LC significant smaller grain sizes of about 5 μm were determined at the highest heating rate. Furthermore, the evolution of the grain size distribution with varying heating rate, annealing temperature, and holding time was studied in dependence of the rolling and normal direction. The state of the as-hot rolled microstructure as well as the precipitation state exert a strong influence on the development of the recrystallised microstructure along the different directions for both steel grades. The inherent prolonged microstructure due to the cold rolling process is still obvious just after recrystallisation. With ongoing annealing and grain growth, the aspect ratio approaches the equiaxed state. This change proceeds faster for the ULC steel grade. With increasing annealing temperature, the bimodal character of the grain size distribution disappears and the distribution becomes more homogeneous.