The effect of deliberate aluminium additions on the microstructure of rolled steel plate characterized using EBSD

The use of aluminium as a deliberate alloying addition in steels has attracted increased attention recently as a possible replacement for Si in transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. In addition, some authors have suggested that it offers beneficial effects as a solid solution strengthener as well as galvanizability. In this work three low carbon (0.02 wt.%) manganese (1.4 wt.%) steels have been alloyed with very different aluminium contents (0.02, 0.48 and 0.94 wt.%) in order to study the effect of this alloying element on the final ferritic microstructure. Two different rolling schedules have been applied to these steels and the final microstructures have been characterized extensively by EBSD measurements. The results indicate that aluminium additions have a profound influence on ferrite grain size and the grain boundary misorientation distribution functions.