Texture Intensity in Grain-Oriented Steel in the Main Stages of the Production Cycle

Abstract

Grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) has been used for many years for application in transformed cores due to its excellent magnetic properties. Magnetic properties are strongly influenced by obtaining a texture with a certain orientation (110) [001] for BCC structure. This is related to the easy direction of magnetization [001]. So far, the main research has been focused on obtaining a strong texture in the last stages of the process. The aim of the present study was to additionally trace textural changes for a slab after the continuous casting (CC) process and for a sheet after the hot rolling process. The scope of such an analysis has not been conducted before. With regard to the state after continuous casting (CC), the texture was related to measurements of the anisotropy of Barkhausen magnetic noises and the macrostructure of the slab. Based on the X-ray diffraction examinations that compared the texture intensity calculated from the texture coefficient of the slab, the hot rolled steel and the final product of grain-oriented electrical steel contained 3.1% of Si. The studies performed with the material taken from three different production steps showed high differences in the values of textural intensity indicating the occurrence of a crystallization texture, especially in the area of the columnar crystal zone; textural weakness after the hot rolling process and high texturing in the final product for textural components corresponding to the desired Goss texture.