Effect of Niobium on Precipitates and Texture Evolution of Fe-3% Si Grain-oriented Electrical Steel Annealed Hot Band

Precipitation behavior of inhibitors, microstructure and texture evolution in annealed hot band of grain oriented Fe-3%Si electrical steel with niobium addition were analyzed, and compared with that of common grain-oriented electrical steel. Stoichiometric ratio of C and N in Nb(C, N) was determined by their lattice parameters. Inhibitors precipitated in the hot rolled band with niobium addition are mainly Nb(C, N). Their average size was 34.1 nm and number density was 3.80x 10(7)/mm(2), with stronger inhibition effect than inhibitors in common grain oriented electrical steel. Stoichiometric ratio of C and N in Nb(C, N) changed from Nb(C-0.85, N-0.15) to Nb(C-0.71, N-0.29) which means NbC is dominant in Nb(C, N) of current study. After niobium addition, recrystallization of annealed hot band was incomplete while more Goss texture is preserved. Addition of niobium is proved helpful to obtain precipitates with higher inhibition effect during hot rolling, instead of adopting hot band annealing.