Abstract
Fe–6.5 wt% Si non-oriented electrical steel is an excellent soft magnetic material due to the low core losses at high frequencies and near-zero magnetostriction. In this study, an Fe–6.5 wt% Si non-oriented electrical steel was processed by hot rolling, warm cross rolling, intermediate annealing, warm temper rolling and final annealing. The evolution of microstructure and microtexture during final annealing was investigated using a quasi in situ EBSD (electron backscatter diffraction) technique. After warm temper rolling, an area on the ND–RD (normal direction–rolling direction) cross section was marked by micro-hardness indents, and the recrystallization of individual grains in this area was traced under EBSD when the annealing time was increased. Due to the differences in the microstructure, texture and stored energy after warm temper rolling, the surface and center regions showed different recrystallization behaviors. The recrystallization of the surface region was essentially initiated by the growth of existing crystallites having lower stored energy than their neighboring areas (essentially no nucleation), while the center region showed both nucleation and grain growth during annealing. The growth rates of individual grains were evaluated with respect to the number of neighboring grains, and they approximately followed the von Neumann–Mullins law of grain growth. The surface region showed a much faster growth rate than the center region. The final texture was dominated by <111>//ND and <113>//ND in both the surface and center regions, due to the preferred growth of these grains.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time due to technical or time limitations.
References
Abe M, Takada Y, Murakami T, Tanaka Y, Mihara Y (1989) Magnetic properties of commercially produced Fe–6.5 wt% Si sheet. J Mater Eng 11(1):109–116
Phway T, Moses A (2008) Magnetostriction trend of non-oriented 6.5% Si–Fe. J Magn Magn Mater 320(20):611–613
Takada Y, Abe M, Masuda S, Inagaki J (1988) Commercial scale production of Fe–6.5 wt.% Si sheet and its magnetic properties. J Appl Phys 64(10):5367–5369
Kernick A, Lane D, Ogden J, Pavlovic D (1967) Development and application of low-noise 6.5% Si–Fe sheet. J Appl Phys 38(3):1087–1089
Kubota T (2005) Recent progress on non-oriented silicon steel. Steel Res Int 76(6):464–470
Lu X, Fang F, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Yuan G, Xu Y, Cao G, Misra R, Wang G (2017) Evolution of microstructure and texture in grain-oriented 6.5% Si steel processed by strip-casting. Mater Charact 126:125–134
He Y, Hilinski E, Li J (2015) Texture evolution of a non-oriented electrical steel cold rolled at directions different from the hot rolling direction. Metallurg Mater Trans A 46(11):5350–5365
Sha Y, Sun C, Zhang F, Patel D, Chen X, Kalidindi S, Zuo L (2014) Strong cube recrystallization texture in silicon steel by twin-roll casting process. Acta Mater 76:106–117
Li H, Liu Z (2015) Tensile properties of strip casting 6.5 wt% Si steel at elevated temperatures. Mater Sci Eng A 639:412–416
Lu X, Xu Y, Fang F, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Jiao H, Misra R, Cao G, Li C, Wang G (2015) Characterization of microstructure and texture in grain-oriented high silicon steel by strip casting. Acta Metallurg Sin (Engl Lett) 11:1394–1402
Cava R, Botta W, Kiminami C, Olzon-Dionysio M, Souza S, Jorge A Jr, Bolfarini C (2011) Ordered phases and texture in spray-formed Fe–5 wt% Si. J Alloy Compd 509:S260–S264
Stanciu C, Popa F, Chicinaş I, Isnard O (2015) Synthesis of the Fe–6.5% wt. Si alloy by mechanical alloying. Adv Eng Forum 13:109–113
Mo Y, Zhang Z, Pan H, Xie J (2016) Improved plasticity and cold-rolling workability of Fe–6.5wt%Si alloy by warm-rolling with gradually decreasing temperature. J Mater Sci Technol 32(5):477–484
Liu H, Li H, Li H, Gao F, Liu G, Luo Z, Zhang F, Chen S, Cao G, Liu Z, Wang G (2015) Effects of rolling temperature on microstructure, texture, formability and magnetic properties in strip casting Fe–6.5 wt% Si non-oriented electrical steel. J Magn Magn Mater 391:65–74
Xu H, Xu Y, Jiao H, Cheng S, Misra R, Li J (2018) Influence of grain size and texture prior to warm rolling on microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of Fe–6.5 wt% Si steel. J Magn Magn Mater 453:236–245
Yao Y, Sha Y, Liu J, Zhang F, Zuo L (2016) Texture and microstructure for magnetic properties of two-Stage cold-rolled Fe–6.5 wt pct Si thin sheets. Metallurg Mater Trans A 47(12):5771–5776
Machado R, Kasama A, Jorge A Jr, Kiminami C, Fo W, Bolfarini C (2007) Evolution of the texture of spray-formed Fe–6.5 wt.% Si–1.0 wt.% Al alloy during warm-rolling. Mater Sci Eng A 449:854–857
Xu H, Xu Y, He Y, Jiao H, Yue S, Li J (2020) Influence of hot rolling reduction rate on the microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of a strip-cast Fe–6.5 wt% Si grain-oriented electrical steel. J Magn Magn Mater 494:165755
Schneider J, Franke A, Stöcker A, Kawalla R (2016) Deformation structure and recrystallization of ferritic FeSi steels. Steel Res Int 87(8):1054–1064
Hong B, Han K, Kim J, Cho K (2005) Effect of hot band annealing on magnetic properties in 3% Si grain-oriented electrical steels. Steel Res Int 76(6):448–450
Wang Y, Zhang X, Zu G, Guan Y, Ji G, Misra R (2018) Effect of hot band annealing on microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of non-oriented electrical steel processed by twin-roll strip casting. J Magn Magn Mater 460:41–53
Qin J, Liu D, Yue Y, Zhao H, Lai C (2019) Effect of normalization on texture evolution of 0.2-mm-thick thin-gauge non-oriented electrical steels with strong η-fiber textures. J Iron Steel Res Int 26(11):1219–1227
Fang F, Zhang Y, Lu X, Wang Y, Lan M, Yuan G, Misra R, Wang G (2018) Abnormal growth of 100 grains and strong Cube texture in strip cast Fe–Si electrical steel. Scripta Mater 147:33–36
Jiao H, Xu Y, Xu H, Zhang Y, Xiong W, Misra R, Cao G, Li J, Jiang J (2018) Influence of hot deformation on texture and magnetic properties of strip cast non-oriented electrical steel. J Magn Magn Mater 462:205–215
Jiao H, Xu Y, Xiong W, Zhang Y, Cao G, Li C, Niu J, Misra R (2017) High-permeability and thin-gauge non-oriented electrical steel through twin-roll strip casting. Mater Des 136:23–33
An L, Wang Y, Song H, Wang G, Liu H (2019) Improving magnetic properties of non-oriented electrical steels by controlling grain size prior to cold rolling. J Magn Magn Mater 491:165636
Vanderschueren D, Kestens L, Van Houtte P, Aernoudt E, Dilewijns J, Meers U (1991) The effect of cross rolling on texture and magnetic properties of non oriented electrical steels. Texture Stress Microstruct 14:921–926
Kestens L, Jacobs S (2008) Texture control during the manufacturing of nonoriented electrical steels. Texture Stress Microstruct 2008:1–9
He Y, Hilinski E (2017) Skew rolling and its effect on the deformation textures of non-oriented electrical steels. J Mater Process Technol 242:182–195
Sanjari M, He Y, Hilinski E, Yue S, Kestens L (2017) Texture evolution during skew cold rolling and annealing of a non-oriented electrical steel containing 0.9 wt% silicon. J Mater Sci 52(6):3281–3300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0616-y
Xu H, Xu Y, He Y, Cheng S, Jiao H, Yue S, Li J (2020) Two-stage warm cross rolling and its effect on the microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of an Fe–6.5 wt% Si non-oriented electrical steel. J Mater Sci 55(26):12525–12543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-04861-7
Mehdi M, He Y, Hilinski E, Edrisy A (2017) Effect of skin pass rolling reduction rate on the texture evolution of a non-oriented electrical steel after inclined cold rolling. J Magn Magn Mater 429:148–160
Li H, Liu H, Liu Y, Liu Z, Cao G, Luo Z, Zhang F, Chen S, Lyu L, Wang G (2014) Effects of warm temper rolling on microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of strip-casting 6.5wt% Si electrical steel. J Magn Magn Mater 370:6–12
Kurosaki Y, Shimazu T, Shiozaki M (1999) Effect of skin-pass rolling direction on magnetic properties of semiprocessed nonoriented electrical steel sheets. IEEE Trans Magn 35(5):3370–3372
Kijima H, Bay N (2008) Skin-pass rolling I—Studies on roughness transfer and elongation under pure normal loading. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 48(12):1313–1317
Park J, Han K (2012) Goss texture formation by strain induced boundary migration in semi-processed nonoriented electrical steels. Mater Sci Forum 715–716:837–842
Bennett T, Kalu P, Rollett A (2006) Stored energy driven abnormal grain growth in Fe-1Si, COM-2006 (Montreal), METSOC 217–227
Bennett T, Kalu P, Rollett A (2011) Strain-induced selective growth in 1.5% temper-rolled Fe~1% Si. Microsc Microanal 17(3):362–367
Kestens L, Jonas J, Van Houtte P, Aernoudt E (1996) Orientation selective recrystallization of nonoriented electrical steels. Metallurg Mater Trans A 27(8):2347–2358
Takashima M, Komatsubara M, Morito N (1997) {001}<210> texture development by two-stage cold rolling method in non-oriented electrical steel. ISIJ Int 37(12):1263–1268
Sanjari M, He Y, Hilinski E, Yue S, Kestens L (2016) Development of the {113}<uvw> texture during the annealing of a skew cold rolled non-oriented electrical steel. Scripta Mater 124:179–183
Yan M, Qian H, Yang P, Mao W, Jian Q, Jin W (2011) Analysis of micro-texture during secondary recrystallization in a Hi-B electrical steel. J Mater Sci Technol 27(11):1065–1071
Kim J, Lee D, Koo Y (2014) The evolution of the Goss and Cube textures in electrical steel. Mater Lett 122:110–113
Mehdi M, He Y, Hilinski E, Kestens L, Edrisy A (2020) The evolution of cube ({001}<100>) texture in non-oriented electrical steel. Acta Mater 185:540–554
Ray R, Jonas J, Hook R (1994) Cold rolling and annealing textures in low carbon and extra low carbon steels. Int Mater Rev 39(4):129–172
Inagaki H, Suda T (1972) The development of rolling textures in low-carbon steels. Texture Stress Microstruct 1(2):129–140
Zhang N, Yang P, He C, Mao W (2016) Effect of {110}< 229> and {110}< 112> grains on texture evolution during cold rolling and annealing of electrical steel. ISIJ Int 56(8):1462–1469
von Schlippenbach U, Emren F, Lücke K (1986) Investigation of the development of the cold rolling texture in deep drawing steels by ODF-analysis. Acta Metall 34(7):1289–1301
Toth L, Jonas J, Daniel D, Ray R (1990) Development of ferrite rolling textures in low-and extra low-carbon steels. Metall Mater Trans A 21(11):2985–3000
Kurosaki Y, Shiozaki M, Higashine K, Sumimoto M (1999) Effect of oxide shape on magnetic properties of semiprocessed nonoriented electrical steel sheets. ISIJ Int 39(6):607–613
He Y, Mehdi M, Hilinski E, Edrisy A (2018) Through-process characterization of local anisotropy of non-oriented electrical steel using magnetic Barkhausen noise. J Magn Magn Mater 453:149–162
Cheong S, Weiland H (2007) Understanding a microstructure using GOS (grain orientation spread) and its application to recrystallization study of hot deformed Al–Cu–Mg alloys, Materials Science Forum 153–158.
Titchener A, Bever M (1958) The stored energy of cold work. Prog Met Phys 7:247–338
von Neumann J (1952) Discussion of article by C. Smith. Metal Interfaces, Cleveland, Amer. Soc. Testing of Materials
Mullins W (1956) Two-dimensional motion of idealized grain boundaries. J Appl Phys 27(8):900–904
Gobernado P, Petrov R, Kestens L (2012) Recrystallized {311}<136> orientation in ferrite steels. Scripta Mater 66(9):623–626
Sanjari M, Mehdi M, He Y, Hilinski E, Yue S, Kestens L, Edrisy A (2017) Tracking the evolution of annealing textures from individual deformed grains in a cross-rolled non-oriented electrical steel. Metall Mater Trans A 48(12):6013–6026
Zhang Z, Wang W, Zou Y, Baker I, Chen D, Liang Y (2015) Control of grain boundary character distribution and its effects on the deformation of Fe–6.5 wt.% Si. J Alloys Compd 639:40–44
Humphreys F, Hatherly M (2012) Recrystallization and related annealing phenomena. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51674080, 51974085), and National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB0304105). Y. H. acknowledges the financial support from Natural Resources Canada through the Program of Energy Research and Development. H.J.X. is grateful to the support from Chinese Scholarship Council (No. 201806080099). The authors are grateful to Jian Li and Renata Zavadil for assistance in EBSD characterization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
There are no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Handling Editor: Sophie Primig.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, H., Xu, Y., He, Y. et al. Tracing the recrystallization of warm temper-rolled Fe–6.5 wt% Si non-oriented electrical steel using a quasi in situ EBSD technique. J Mater Sci 55, 17183–17203 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05168-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05168-3