Effect of cold rolling on texture, anisotropy and microstructure of annealed maraging 350 steel

Abstract

Maraging steels have a great technological importance due their application in the aerospace and nuclear industries. One of these applications is a deep drawing for a fabricate cylinders of high strength, so knowing the mechanical behavior of this steel is critical to a good drawing. This paper evaluates the texture, anisotropy and the microstructure of maraging 350 steel after cold rolling and annealing. The anisotropy was measured by the calculation of Lankford’s coefficients and the calculation the normal (Rm) and planar (ΔR) anisotropy coefficients. It was found that increasing cold rolling reduction before the annealing strengths the <111> fibre texture and improves the Rm. The microstructural analysis shows that great rolling reduction could induce intermetallic precipitation after the annealing in this steel.