Effect of the Annealing Temperature on the Structure and Magnetic Properties of 2% Si Steel

To study the effect of the annealing temperature on the structure and magnetic properties of a 2%Si non-oriented steel cold rolled samples were submitted to final annealing in the temperature range of 540 °C to 980 °C in hydrogen atmosphere. The samples had received cold rolling reduction of 75% to a final thickness of 0.50 mm. Recovery and recrystallization resulted in significant improvement of magnetic properties, with decrease of iron loss (W1.5) and increase of polarisation (J50) and relative permeability (µ1.5). On further grain growth, after recrystallization, there was simultaneous decrease of iron loss, polarisation and relative permeability. Texture evolution on grain growth accounts for the observed decrease of J50 and µ1.5. The beneficial effect of increasing grain size on core loss overcomes the detrimental effect of texture resulting in decrease of W1.5.