Effect of hot band annealing on inclusions, texture, and magnetic properties of 2.97%Si-0.59% Al non-oriented silicon steel

Effects of hot band annealing on inclusions, texture and magnetic properties of the 2.97%Si-0.59%Al non-oriented silicon steel sheet with 0.3 mm in thickness were investigated by scanning electron microscope and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD). With the increase of hot band annealing temperature, the inclusions of 0.1–1 μm in hot band obviously reduced, the area fraction of {100}<110> texture prominently increased during recrystallization of hot band. However, the area fraction of {100}<110> dramatically dropped, and α-fibre texture, {111}<112> significantly developed during grain growth of hot band. The texture of the final sheets was dominated by α*-fibre texture, {001}<130> and γ-fibre texture. Furthermore, increasing of hot band annealing temperature increased the grain size, strengthen θ-fibre texture and weaken γ-fibre texture of the final sheets, resulting in the improvement of the magnetic induction and iron loss.