Investigation on the cold-strip breakage of SUS445J2 ultra-pure ferritic stainless steel during rolling process

In this work,the cause of the cold-strip breakage of SUS445J2 ultra-pure ferritic stainless steel was investigated using optical microscopy,energy dispersive spectroscopy,and electron backscatter diffraction technique.Results show that during cold rolling,the breakage of the stainless steel strip was mainly caused by massive niobium-rich(Nb-rich)carbides present in the center of the strip.Furthermore,cracks initiated at these carbides in the central layer.The massive carbide precipitates resulted from the segregation and enrichment of Nb,titanium(Ti),and carbon(C)in the central layer during the subsequent solidification stage of SUS445J2 stainless steel.Additionally,the banded structure and coarse ferrite grains in the central layer reduced the plasticity of the material,causing cracks to propagate along these grains and finally leading to cold-strip breakage.By reducing the solidification cooling rate of the billet,increasing the pouring temperature,discretizing Nb,Ti,and C enrichment via electromagnetic stirring,and forming equiaxed crystals in the central layer,the precipitation of harmful massive Nb-rich carbides in the central layer could be effectively avoided.