Annealing of coarse-grained materials allows the observation of important orientation effects during recrystallization. Samples of the niobium-stabilized ferritic stainless steel 430 with columnar grain structure have been deformed up to reductions of 50% and 80% and annealed at temperatures ranging from 300°C up to 1100°C to evaluate its softening behavior and the recrystallization kinetics. Samples comprise the longitudinal section of a continuous-cast slab. Warm rolling has been performed (<FONT FACE=Symbol>»</FONT> 480°C) in such a configuration that the columnar grains are aligned with the normal direction (grain boundaries parallel to the ND). Microstructural characterization has been performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the backscattered electrons mode. Results show that the recrystallized grain size varies locally from one region to another indicating significant orientation effects.
Ferritic stainless steel; recrystallization; columnar grains
