Influence of cold-rolling texture and heating rate on {110}〈001〉 development in inhibitor-free 3%Si–Fe sheets

Abstract This paper presents cold-rolling and annealing methods to obtain a high-magnetic induction in inhibitor-free 0.1-mm-thick 3% silicon–iron sheets containing 18 or 150 ppm sulfur. In case of the two-step cold-rolling, the sheets containing 150 ppm sulfur showed a strong {1 0 0} final texture at 400 °C/h, and some fraction of {1 1 0} component was observed at 25 °C/h. However, three-step cold-rolling resulted in a sharp {1 1 0}〈0 0 1〉 final texture at 25 °C/h. This is due to the difference in intensity ratio of {1 0 0}〈0 1 1〉 to {1 1 1}〈1 1 2〉 in the cold-rolling texture which influences the nucleation of {1 1 0}〈0 0 1〉 component and the selective growth kinetics of various grains. In case of 18 ppm sulfur, the final texture was mainly composed of a sharp {1 1 0}〈0 0 1〉 component even at 400 °C/h, due to the relatively low segregation concentration.