A mesoscale model of plastic deformation of ferritic stainless steels (FSSs) is formulated by combining a crystal plasticity finite element model with 3D cellular automaton algorithm. The actual grain orientations of FSS cold rolling and annealing sheet have been detected by electron backscatter diffraction and selected to be assigned to the polycrystal model. The simulation results have been validated by comparing the calculated true stress–strain response with the experimental one. For the lack of considering the interactions of dislocations with impurities, there are no upper and lower yield points in the simulation stress–strain curves. However, the calculated yield strength and the stress–strain response after yielding agree well with the real material. The local stress and strain fields show inhomogeneous at mesoscale. The plastic deformations of the grains with typical orientations have been characterized. The analysis reveals that the grains with α fiber texture show higher thickness reduction ratio as compared to others. The deformation behaviors of the grains in polycrystal are not only related to the orientations but also to the interactions from adjacent grains.

The effects of the finisher entry temperatures (FETs) on the surface ridging behavior for an ultra-purified 21%Cr ferritic stainless steel have been investigated. The results indicate that decreasing the FET facilitates the formation of in-grain shear bands in the hot rolled slab. The in-grain shear bands supplied recrystallization nucleation sites in grains during subsequent annealing through coalescence of subgrains, which is beneficial to refine the microstructures and intensify the {111}//ND textures. This effect will evolve to the final cold rolled and annealed sheet. The micro-texture analysis indicates that the formation of grain colony in the final sheet is weakened by decreasing the FET. Then, the surface ridging resistance of FSS is enhanced due to the optimizing of micro-texture distribution.