Evolution of Texture and Related Magnetic Properties in Fe–3%Si Steel during Single-step Annealing

Cold rolled Fe–3%Si steel sheets underwent a single-step annealing process, which included a decarburizing treatment. Crystallographic texture and magnetic properties were investigated after cold rolling and annealing for various times. Most of the Goss oriented grains were situated inside the shear bands of {111}‹112› oriented grains in the cold rolled samples. In the annealed samples, island grains were observed in the abnormally growing grains. The island grains had either low (45°) misorientations. The abnormally growing grains were surrounded by 25°–45° misorientation boundaries. The effects of crystallographic texture on magnetic properties were evaluated using a texture parameter, the ratio of the sum of Cube and Goss texture components fractions to γ fiber texture components fraction. The results show that iron losses decrease linearly with increasing texture parameter.