On the Rotated Cube 001110 Texture Component in Extra and Ultra Low-Carbon Steels

Abstract

Crystallographic texture plays a central role in determining the mechanical and functional properties of low-carbon steel sheets. While the γ-fiber 111//ND texture has been extensively studied and effectively controlled through conventional rolling and annealing routes, the Cube 001//ND fiber, particularly the Rotated Cube 001110 component, remains poorly understood and rarely exploited, despite its potential benefits for soft magnetic applications. This manuscript reviews and rationalizes the formation and evolution of the Rotated Cube texture obtained through conventional sheet processing, encompassing phase transformation, cold rolling, and recrystallization annealing. Experimental observations demonstrate that the Rotated Cube component is continuously present, albeit with comparatively low intensities, because (extra/ultra) low-carbon steels have historically been optimized to suppress its development. The evolution of the Rotated Cube texture cannot be explained solely by classical orientation stability or high stored energy recrystallization arguments. Instead, evidence points to the decisive role of variant selection during the γ → α transformation, grain fragmentation during plastic deformation, and orientation selection during sub-grain growth, controlled by local misorientation gradients, in the early stages of recrystallization annealing. The manuscript further evaluates the capabilities and limitations of mean-field and full-field computational approaches for texture prediction, highlighting recent advances that incorporate microstructural heterogeneity into recrystallization modeling. By integrating experimental findings with physically based models, this work clarifies the multiscale mechanisms underlying Rotated Cube texture formation and outlines pathways toward its intentional control in low-carbon steels processed via conventional routes.