Abstract: The strains in crystals are evaluated by quantifying the sharpness of an electron channeling pattern and determining changes in the quantified sharpness of the electron channeling pattern. There is such a close correlation between the sharpness of the electron channeling pattern and the strains in crystals that the latter can be evaluated in terms of changes in the former. An apparatus for evaluating strains in crystals comprises a scanning electron microscope having a function to form an electron channeling pattern and an image analyzer having a function to quantify the sharpness of an electron channeling pattern.

Abstract: The Cr-series stainless steel sheet heretofore produced by a method including annealing a hot-rolled strip for decomposing the .alpha.'-phase or .gamma.-transformed phase therein, can be produced by omitting this annealing. In the method according to the present invention, a thin casting is cooled from the solidification temperature to the end temperature of the .gamma.-phase-precipitation at a cooling speed at least equal to the air cooling-speed, thereby avoiding the .gamma.-phase-precipitation. Then, the precipitation treatment for precipitating the supersaturated C, N, and S, or the heating to the .alpha.+.gamma. dual phase-temperature region for precipitating the .gamma.-phase, is carried out.