Effect of post-rolling cooling on the hot-rolled microstructure and texture of a new medium-carbon steel

Thermomechanical processing consisted of hot-rolling in the austenitic region with deformation both above and below the non-recrystallization temperature. Immediately after rolling, specimens were directly quenched in water to three different temperatures of 560 °C, 420 °C and room temperature. The first two samples, which were quenched to 560° C and 420°C, immediately cooled slowly in the furnace. The microstructure of samples quenched to 560 °C mostly comprised of upper bainite whereas the samples quenched to 420 °C mainly consisted of lath-type bainite. The microstructure of sample direct-quenched to room temperature was mainly martensite. The transformation texture of all samples at the midthickness position showed the same general texture, consisted of mainly ᵅ and ᵞ fibers components with high intensities close to the transformed copper {112}<110>_ᵅ, transformed brass {111}<112>_ᵅ and rotated cube {001}<110>_ᵅ components. However, the direct-quenched sample produced slightly more intense texture compared to the bainitic samples. The local texture of samples near the rolled surface owing to sever deformation showed the shear features consisting of major components of {112}<111>_ᵅ, {110}<112>_ᵅ and {110}<111>_ᵅ.