Effects of electric field annealing on the re-crystallization texture of cold rolled 08A1 killed steel sheet

The cold-rolled 08Al killed steel sheets were treated according to the "one-step annealing" and "two-step annealing" schemes, under applying or not applying an electric field. The effects of electric field on recrystallization texture were investigated by X-ray ODF analysis. The results show that the electric field annealing may reinforce the gamma-fiber texture and weaken the a-fiber texture. The most important reason is that the electric field decreases the driving force of recrystallization, which would hinder the nucleation and grain-growth on the whole. Therefore, the electric field annealing would promote the growth of the gamma-oriented grains due to their relatively high storage energy, and restrain the growth of grains with the other orientations.