Preparation of High Silicon Steel by Pulse Electrodeposition in Molten Salt

High silicon steel containing 6.5 wt% Si was prepared by pulse electrodepositon in KCl-NaC-NaF-SiO2 molten salt followed by diffusion annealing. The composition, the phase and the evolution of texture during the different production step were analyzed by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and the orientation distribution function (ODF). The results showed that the silicon content of the high silicon steel was about 6.5wt%. The high silicon steel was composed of alpha-Fe and Fe3Si. After diffusion annealing the undesirable gamma-fibre type texture {111} < 110 > and {111} < 112 > weakened, both easy magnetization direction Goss texture ({110} < 001 >) and cube texture {100} < 001 > were intensified.