Rapid heating effects on grain-size, texture and magnetic properties of 3% Si non-oriented electrical steel

The rapid heating effects on the microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of 3% Si non-oriented electrical steel has been investigated through optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Epstein frame. The results show that recrystallized grains were refined with increased heating rate, caused by the nucleation rate increase, which is faster than the growth rate due to rapid hearting. With the heating rate increase, the characteristic {111} recrystallization fibre of cold-rolled steel was depressed, but the beneficial 〈001〉//RD and 〈001〉//ND fibres were significantly strengthened. Although the grain-size decreases with heating rate increasing, the optimal magnetic properties can also be obtained through the recrystallized grain-size and texture optimization by rapid heating. In this research, we find the magnetic properties optimization can be obtained when annealed with 100°C/s heating rate: the core loss (P 1·5/50) decrease 13% and the magnetic induction (B 50) increase 3%.