Ferritic steels: Optimization of hot-rolled textures through cold rolling and annealing

This paper describes the processes used in the production of tinplate, autobody and interstitial-free (IF) steels, and examines how the microstructure and the texture of the hot-rolled stock modify the cold formability properties (n, rm and Δr) of the blanks through the subsequent cold-rolling and annealing processes. The process of fabrication of ferritic steel strip must comply with the specified drawing quality requirements: commercial quality (CQ), drawing quality (DQ), deep drawing quality (DDQ) or extra deep drawing quality (EDDQ). The quality level is determined by several factors, such as the chemical composition, microstructure and texture of the hot-rolled sheet, the percentage of cold reduction (CR) and the recrystallization treatment in the continuous annealing process or batch process. To a lesser degree, other parameters such as the coiling temperature in the hot strip workshop and the degree of reduction in the temper rolling (TR) mill also modify the cold workability of the strip.