Regulating the recrystallized grain to induce strong cube texture in oriented silicon steel

Cube texture contains two easy magnetization directions < 001 > parallel to rolling and transverse direction, respectively, which is the most ideal magnetic texture suitable not only for transformers but also for rotating machines. In this study, a strong cube texture with ODF density of 50.73 mrd was successfully obtained by regulating the recrystallized grain orientation using cross-rolling and pulsed electric current, compared to conventional thermal annealing (the average cube texture intensity is similar to 10 mrd in lots of latest studies). Cross cold rolling process intentionally created metastable deformed cube orientation in oriented silicon steel and the specific recrystallization texture rotation path was identified under pulsed electric current in 5 min: {114} <261>-> {114} <151>-> {114} <041>-> {001} <150>-> {001} <010> . The cube-oriented grains were induced by pulsed electric current (800 degrees C) and rapid heating (51.9 degrees C/s, 750 degrees C), while the cube grains were observed in the annealed samples at the high temperature (1060 degrees C). Recrystallized grain size of pulsed samples is about twice that of the annealed sample. This phenomenon is considered that the concurrent effects of electron wind force and Joule heating affected the nucleation, growth and rotation of cube grains by reducing the nuclear barrier, producing higher grain boundary mobility and structural evolution towards a state with lower electrical resistance. This idea of current-controlled texture is worthy of popularization in more materials and the realization of an electromagnetic field to crystal orientation selection is an interesting topic. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

Automated summary

A strong cube texture with ODF density of 50.73 mrd was successfully obtained by regulating the recrystallized grain orientation using cross-rolling and pulsed electric current. The recrystallized grain size of pulsed samples is about twice that of the annealed sample, achieved through the concurrent effects of electron wind force and Joule heating.