Role of texture before rolling: a research based on texture and magnetic properties of 4.5 wt.% Si non-oriented electrical steel

The evolution of microstructure, texture, and magnetic properties with random texture, near-copper texture, weak near-cube texture, and strong lambda fiber (<001>//ND (normal direction)) before rolling of non-oriented electrical steel was studied. Three recrystallized hot bands with different textures but similar grain sizes were prepared by pre-annealing at low-temperature and high-temperature normalization annealing. It was observed that the final annealed products exhibited similar recrystallized microstructures. By contrast, the final annealed product with more lambda fiber before rolling exhibited a stronger cube texture. With the lambda fiber before rolling becoming stronger, the proportion of {111}<110> deformed matrices became larger, which could be observed in the early recrystallization stage. The overwhelmingly dominant lambda orientation nuclei are formed in the {111}<110> deformed matrix and become the dominant texture. Eventually, the best magnetic properties are obtained in the products with strong lambda fiber before rolling, corresponding to the strong cube texture and low anisotropy parameter.