Effect of Secondary Cooling on Microstructure, Texture and Properties of 1.2wt% Si Non-Oriented Electrical Steel Processed by Twin-Roll Strip Casting

Abstract

The influence of different secondary cooling conditions (air cooling and water cooling) on microstructure, texture and properties of Fe-1.2wt%Si non-oriented silicon strips prepared by twin-roll strip casting were studied. Specimens were examined by OIM, EBSD and X-RD. The microstructures obtained by water cooling are more homogeneous and coarse in grain size than that obtained by air cooling. The dominant {100} texture can be observed in the case of water cooled, while the air cooled strip show a diffuse texture characteristic. The annealed sheets subjected to water cooling than air cooling show higher permeability and lower core loss due to the presence of relatively larger grain size and more ideal fibre components such as Goss and Cube., It seems that rapid secondary cooling of as cast strips can furtherer optimize the microstructure and texture prior to cold rolling and then substantially the final magnetic properties of 1.2wt% Si non-oriented silicon steels.