Formation of Substructure and Texture in Dual-Phase Steels due to Thermal Treatment

Microstructure and texture formation in DP steels obtained by thermal treatment at temperatures of 780 °C i.e. between Ac1 and Ac3 and at 900 °C, i.e. above Ac3 and following different cooling techniques were studied by means of X-ray and electron diffraction techniques. The formation of the different structure constituents as well as substructure parameters such as blocks size and misorientation between them induced by thermal treatment was detailed analyzed. Various methods – conventional X-ray methods, high-energy synchrotron radiation and EBSD measuring – the texture of the bcc phase were applied in order to investigate their influence on the results. Beside texture heredity, a softening of the initial texture components induced by cold rolling and of related anisotropy of steels due to thermal treatment was estimated.