Mechanism for selective growth in electrical steel

Abstract

Through the competitive selective growth process between {100}, {110}, and {111} grains during final annealing which is governed by the primary grain size and the surface segregation concentration of sulfur, the sharp {110}< 001 > annealing texture can be developed in a C-and Al-free Fe-3%Si-0.1%Mn electrical steel. Generally, the selective growth of the {110} grains occurs actively under the low surface segregation concentration of sulfur. In spite of the surface energy disadvantage, the selective growth of a {hkl} grain can however occur, if the {hkl} grain size is larger than the critical grain size linearly proportional to the strip thickness.