The effect of cold ring rolling on the evolution of microstructure and texture in 100Cr6 steel

This paper concerns the development of microstructure and texture during cold ring rolling of 100Cr6 steel rings with starting rectangular cross-sections. By interrupting the rolling process at pre-defined intervals expansion ratios ranging from 1.05 to 1.5 were achieved resulting in varying degrees of deformation of the rings. Results for rings with a simple rectangular cross-section were compared with results for a cold rolled ring with a more complex cross-section. By combining results from optical and scanning electron microscopy with hardness measurements the two different ring shapes were shown to display similar material flow during cold ring rolling. The deformation was most severe near the inner diameter of the rings decreasing towards the area of the outer diameter. By employing electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) the ring rolling process was shown to change the {1 1 1}-fibre texture of the ring blanks to a {1 1 0} texture. This implies a mixture of both shear and compressive deformation during rolling.