Anomalous texture developments, new two-dimensional primary growth modeling, and fully (001)-textured electrical steels

[Display omitted] •Anomalous primary texture developments were observed in one-stage or two-stage cold-rolled C- and AlN-free electrical sheets during isothermal annealing, depending on the cold-rolling thickness reduction ratio, bulk sulfur content, and sheet thickness.•Several unique concepts implied in the new 2D growth modeling well explain the various anomalous texture developments.•Based on the 2D primary growth maps, the (111) island grains in fully (001)-textured electrical sheets after final annealing are always consumed with further annealing, regardless of the grain size. However, the (110) island grains may grow or not, which depends on the grain size and the number of neighboring ones.•The (001) grain size in fully (001)-textured electrical sheets after final annealing is determined by the combination between sheet thickness, bulk sulfur content, cold-rolling reduction ratio, heating rate, and MnS precipitation reaction.•The (110)[001] Goss as well as fully developed (001) textures can be obtained from electrical sheets of the same composition, depending on the processing variables.•Fully (001)-textured electrical sheets of high magnetic properties were developed through the experimental results and the 2D growth modeling. Various anomalous texture developments have been investigated in C-free and AlN-free electrical sheets, and new two-dimensional (2D) primary growth modeling has been carried out to understand them. In one-stage cold-rolled sheets, the primary (001) texture pole intensity (TPI) increases with decreasing bulk sulfur content and sheet thickness. The high-index hkl and (001) TPIs increase concurrently with increasing annealing time. In other case, the (001) TPI increases to a maximum after which it rather decreases. In two-stage cold-rolled sheets showing the primary 001+(110) texture, the (001) TPI increases with decreasing sheet thickness and second-stage cold-rolling ratio (CRR). The final (001) grain size is determined by the combination between sheet thickness, bulk sulfur content, CRR, heating rate, and MnS precipitation reaction. New 2D primary growth modeling supports strongly that the higher surface energy grains as well as the lower surface energy ones can grow, although their growth is transient and peripheral. Several unique concepts implied in the 2D growth maps well explain the various anomalous texture developments. The (111) island grains in electrical sheets fully (001)-textured after final annealing are always