Microstructure and texture evolution during annealing after temper rolling of a 2 wt.-% silicon electric steel

Abstract

The evolution of the microstructure, macrotexture, microtexture and mesotexture has been studied during the annealing at 760°C after temper rolling (9% thickness reduction) of a non-oriented electrical steel sheet containing 2 wt. % Si. Results showed that the coarse grained microstructure, obtained on annealing, is produced through a recrystallization mechanism that advances from the surface to the interior of the sheet. However, starting of this process is delayed due to the presence of Si. The majority of experiments carried out in this work have been repeated for a low-carbon steel (C = 0.0385; Mn = 0.18%) containing only 0.03% Si and the results obtained were practically identical to those observed in the steel containing 2% Si. The main difference observed between both steels was that the process of formation of the exaggeratedly large grains was slower in the steel containing 2% Si.