Industrially processed duplex stainless steel sheet was investigated after the reheating, the roughing mill and the finishing rolling. Light optical microscopy revealed that the cast structure that existed before rolling was removed and changed into a banded microstructure. During the process, the ferrite-austenite volume fraction ratio changed from 72 percent alpha + 28 percent gamma to 48 percent alpha + 52 percent gamma. The microhardness was measured for both phases after each process step. Texture measurements were executed by means of the electron backscattering diffraction technique (EBSD). These measurements revealed that extensive static recrystallisation of the austenite occurred during the roughing but that recrystallisation was inhibited during the finishing. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on the finish rolled material indicated that the ferrite softened efficiently by extended dynamic recovery. The dislocations in ferrite grains with rotated cube orientation were often found to be straight screw dislocations which were inclined 55 deg to the surface of the sheet. The importance of the partitioning of the alloying elements and the strain partitioning on the deformation behaviour is highlighted.
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