Evolution of texture and related magnetic properties in Fe-3%Si steel during single-step annealing

Abstract

Cold rolled Fe-3% Si steel sheets underwent a single-step annealing process, which included a decarburizing treatment. Crystallography texture and magnetic properties were investigated after cold rolling and annealing for various times. Most of the Goss oriented grains were situated inside the shear bands of {111}〈112〉 oriented grains in the cold rolled samples. In the annealed samples, island grains were observed in the abnormally growing grains. The island grains had either low (<15°) or high (>45°) misorientations. The abnormally growing grains were surrounded by 25°-45° misorientation boundaries. The effects of crystallography texture on magnetic properties were evaluated using a texture parameter, the ratio of the sum of Cube and Goss texture components fractions to y fiber texture components fraction. The results show that iron losses decrease linearly with increasing texture parameter. © 2008 ISIJ.