Hot band Fe-3%Si steel (CRGO or cold rolled grain oriented) was cold rolled with different reductions. The main objective of this study was an overall understanding of deformation texture and microstructure development. Hot band CRGO had a strong a-fiber (RD//͗110͘) texture. Cold reduction strengthened the a and g (ND//͗111͘) fibers, but weakened q (ND//͗100͘). All Taylor type deformation texture models were reasonably successful in predicting these bulk texture developments, and the Lamel model seems to be the 'best-fit' model, both in terms of a 'deviation' parameter (indicating differences between experimental and simulated values of idealized texture components) and a 'trend' parameter (indicating the relative change(s) in texture components with strain). The striking feature of the microstructure was the 'selective' appearance of grain interior strain localization's. These appeared at approximately 37°with the rolling direction (RD). Though 37°bands appeared only in orientations with high Taylor factor (M ), the absolute value of the Taylor factor alone, was not enough for the appearance of such bands. Negative textural softening or (dM/de) values, on the other hand, were always associated with the appearance of 37°bands, justifying or explaining their formation on the basis of a macroscopic plastic instability theory.KEY WORDS: cold rolling; texture; grain oriented electrical steel; microstructure; strain localizations.* 1 However excellent review articles on CRGO are perhaps limited, 4) as compared to forming grade steels. [23][24][25][26] a previous study of the present authors, it was suggested that the relative presence of the respective strain localization's may determine the frequency and 'perfection' of the primary recrystallized Goss grains, perhaps determining the effectiveness of the subsequent secondary recrystallization process. 11) A recent study in low carbon steel 34) has indicated that at least the 37°strain localization's are first generation micro bands forming on the so-called 'high Taylor Factor' orientations. How such strain localization's may evolve in a cold-deformed CRGO and if both 37°and 20°b ands are of the same nature and origin remains to be explored.
Experimental MethodsA 200 kg Fe-3%Si steel ingot was hot rolled from 50 to 2.1 mm thickness (pre-heating temperature being 1 330°C). The chemical composition of the hot rolled strip is given in Table 1. The hot rolled strip was annealed at 1 000°C for 60 s and then quenched. The annealed hot-band material was subsequently cold rolled with a laboratory mill to 5 different reductions -25 %, 40 %, 60 %, 77 % and 88 %. Samples were obtained for all these conditions for bulk texture and OIM (Orientation Imaging Microscopy) measurements, using respectively the mid-thickness sections of the rolling plane (containing rolling and transverse directions, i.e. RD and TD) and the long transverse plane (containing rolling and normal directions, i.e. RD and ND).Bulk texture measurements were analyzed by inversion of 4 incomplete pole figures a...