Texture Change during Grain Growth in Non-Oriented Electrical Steel

Grain size and texture are very important for controlling the magnetic properties in non-oriented electrical steel. Grain size and texture are closely related because the texture usually changes during grain growth. In this study, texture changes with grain growth in non-oriented electrical steel are investigated. Two kinds of materials, Sample A and Sample B, were prepared in order to study the differences of the texture. Sample A, Fe-0.5wt%Si, is not annealed before cold rolling. Sample B, the same chemical composition as Sample A, is annealed before cold rolling. In Sample A, the {111} texture component increases markedly during grain growth. By contrast, in Sample B, the increase in {111} is less pronounced. The recrystallized orientations in both Samples are analyzed, and computer simulation is used to attempt to explain the texture changes during grain growth. In the case of Sample A, the simulations reproduce the experimental result well; for Sample B, however, the simulations do not agree as well. The microstructures before annealing exhibit strong alignment of the orientations, which will require a new approach to building the digital microstructures for instantiation of the simulations.