Formation of cube-on-face texture in non-oriented electrical steel

Abstract

Electric steel sheets using the magnetic properties of iron are divided into a grain oriented electric steel sheet and a non-oriented electric steel sheet. In the case of non-oriented electrical steel, it is generally used inside a rotating motor or generator. There is a growing interest in the efficiency of electric vehicles and generators, and there is a growing demand for the production of highly efficient, non-oriented electrical steel sheets in the future. The composition, microstructure and texture must be controlled to produce high-efficiency non-oriented electrical steel sheet. Control of composition and microstructure have already been made much progress. But it has not yet reached the control of texture. Cube-on-face texture is known as the ideal texture for non-oriented electrical steel. However, the cube-on-face texture is not yet available. In this study, we clarified the mechanism for formation of cube-on-face texture and found the necessary conditions for obtaining cube-on-face texture in high Si steel. In the γ → α phase transformation, the stress was applied to the specimen to confirm the formation of cube-on-face texture. Based on these results, we succeeded in forming a large-area cube-on-face texture. In addition, the cube-on-face texture could be formed through various methods using the weight of the specimen. During the γ → α phase transformation, the nucleation sites could be controlled to form the surface nucleation, which enabled the formation of cube-on-face textures from 1% Si-steel to 2% Si-steel.