When steels are temperature cycled from ferrite to austenite and back again the texture is usually much weakened but in some cases such as Mn-alloyed IF steels the texture reverts almost exactly to the original state. Experiments have been carried out to investigate this so-called texture memory in two low carbon Mn-alloyed steels and the results are discussed in terms of models that have been previously proposed. It is concluded that texture memory arises from variant selection controlled by nucleation of ferrite on specific austenite grain boundaries that are created during the prior transformation on heating. A necessary criterion is that the cooling transformation involves a displacive mechanism so that the favoured nuclei are also capable of continued growth. The present viewpoint accommodates the roles of alloying elements and cooling rate that are observed.
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