Effect of pre-recovery annealing on recrystallisation behaviour of strip-cast non-oriented electrical steel

Abstract

In order to improve the {100} recrystallisation texture of non-oriented electrical steel, a pre-recovery annealing process was proposed to regulate recrystallisation behaviour of {100} grains by altering the structure and stored energy of deformed microstructure. Pre-annealing was conducted at 500°C for 0–90 min. The microstructural and textural evolution was carried out by optical microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results indicate that the pre-recovery annealing promotes the formation of large {100} recrystallised grains. With the prolongation of pre-annealing time, the {100} recrystallisation texture expands from Cube to the vicinity of {001}<130>-{001}<110>, and the volume fraction gradually increases. In addition, the changes of recrystallised microstructure are discussed on the basis of strain-induced boundary migration.