No abstract

The cores of electrical motors and transformers are made by blanking, piercing and stacking of thin metallic sheets having various features cut from the original blank. The material experiences local plastic deformation near the cut edge due to the blanking operation. The quality and efficiency of the produced products are directly affected by the mechanical and magnetic properties of the blanks at the cut edge. The effects of the blanking process on deformation evolution in thin sheets of high Si electrical steels was investigated. In-situ blanking experiments together with the digital image correlation (DIC) technique were used to quantify local deformation evolution during thin sheet blanking operations. Magnetic hysteresis losses were measured using a purpose-built single sheet tester and linked to the measured deformation maps. The residual stresses were qualitatively assessed by means of nano-hardness measurements while the local microstructural properties and dislocation generations were determined using EBSD analysis of the blanked parts. The results indicated that for the tested materials with 0.1t blanking clearance, electrical steel sheets with 0.2 mm thickness experiences larger deformation prior to fracture during blanking compared with samples having 0.35 mm thickness. This has a direct relationship with the measured hysteresis losses. However, the dislocation maps indicated that dislocations of GNDs are more pronounced for thicker samples that aligns with the effect of dislocations on magnetic power losses rather than hysteresis losses measured in this research.

The first Si-Fe electrical steel was produced in 1905, and the grain-oriented steel was discovered in 1930 after Goss demonstrated how optimal combinations of heat treatment and cold rolling could produce a texture giving Si-Fe strip good magnetic properties when magnetised along its rolling direction. This technology has reduced the power loss in transformers greatly and remains the basis of the manufacturing process today. Since then many postulations reported on the mechanism on abnormal grain growth (AGG) which is the key for Si-Fe superior magnetic properties, however, none have provided a concrete understanding of this phenomenon. Here, we established and demonstrated a new theory that underlines the fundamental mechanistic approach of abnormal grain growth in 3% Si-Fe steel. It is demonstrated, that the external heat flux direction applied during annealing and Si atom positions in the solid solution disordered a-Fe cube unit cell that cause lattice distortions and BCC symmetry reduction are the most influential *Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: Manuscript.pdf Click here to view linked References factors in the early stage of Goss AGG than what was previously thought to be dislocation related stored energy, grain boundary characteristics and grain size/orientation advantages.

Using NMR, XRD and FTIR we clarify the assignment of XP spectra of aluminium phosphates prepared from three different aluminium precursors [Al(OH)3, Al(NO3)3 and AlCl3] at different annealing temperatures.