Texture Evolution during Cold Drawing of Steel Tube with Respect to the Stress - Strain State

Cold tube drawing is a metal forming process that enable to manufacturers to produce high precision tubes. The dimensions of the tube are reduced by drawing it through a conical converging die with or without inner tool. There are four types of tube cold drawing process. Their difference relies on the technique used for inner diameter calibration. Therefore, the main objective was determining the difference in development of crystallographic texture and stress-strain state between drawing with the fixed plug and hollow sinking process. The input feedstock (with E235 steel grade) after the recrystallizing anneal was cold drawn (drawing with the fixed plug, hollow sinking) by one drawing passes. Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis was used to evaluate the changes of grain structure and texture connected with tubes manufacturing. The stress-strain state in the tube material during drawing was calculated using DEFORM-3D software and the crystallographic orientation with respect to the cylindrical reference frame (Z-direction = drawing direction). A significant difference in stress-strain state between drawing with the fixed plug and hollow sinking process was recorded in radial direction.