The evolution of strain states and textures during roll-cladding of three plies of sheets comprising ferritic stainless steel (STS), aluminum (AI) and ferritic stainless steel was investigated by measurements of crystallographic textures and by simulations with the finite element method (FEM). Because the deformation mainly occurs in the Al layer during roll-cladding, the present investigation was focused on the Al layer located at the middle of clad samples. Roll-cladding of STS/Al/STS sheets led to the development of a strong through thickness texture gradient in the Al sheet which was characterized by shear textures at the surface layer and rolling textures at the center layer. The temperature of the cladding operation played an important role in the evolution of textures. (C) 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.