Effect of normalization on the microstructure and texture evolution during primary and secondary recrystallization of Hi-B electrical steel

Normalization, as an important process step in the production of Hi-B electrical steels, influences the microstructure and texture evolution during the subsequent primary and secondary recrystallization annealing. The effects are investigated by TEM, EBSD and XRD for a Hi-B electrical steel. The results show that large numbers of small and dispersed AIN precipitated after normalizing treatment. The precipitated AIN inhibitors promoted the formation of CSL boundaries of Sigma = 3, 11 and 13b, and boundaries with misorientation angles between 25-45 degrees during the primary recrystallization, which are believed to promote the selective growth of the Goss grains during secondary recrystallization. After primary, recrystallization, the normalized specimen showed the increase in the intensity of {111}< 112 > component and the decrease of the alpha*-fiber intensity. As a result, the growth of Goss component was promoted during the secondary recrystallization.