Effect of Cooling Rate on Magnetic Properties of Fe-3.3 wt% Si Non-oriented Electrical Steel

In this paper, the effects of solidification cooling rate on the inclusion distribution, magnetic properties, and texture of 3.3 wt% Si non-oriented steel with different carbon and sulfur (C&S) levels are measured and analyzed. Fast and slow cooled strip samples produced using specially designed melt samplers were thermo-mechanically treated by hot rolling (HR), cold rolling (CR), and final annealing. The fully processed fast cooled sample (similar to 1700 K/s) exhibited a smaller average grain size compared to the sample produced with a low solidification cooling rate (similar to 9 K/s). In addition, under each C&S level, smaller inclusions (in the range 0.15-1.0 mu m) were observed in the high solidification cooling rate sample. Differences in Cube {100}< 001 >, S{213}< 364 >, Brass{110} < 112 >, Goss{110}< 001 >, and Copper{112}< 111 > texture were also documented in the fully processed material. Under each C&S level, the sample with low solidification cooling rate had a lower core loss than the high cooling rate sample.