Effect of Cold Rolling Process on Microstructure, Texture and Properties of Strip Cast Fe-2.6%Si Steel

The use of twin-roll strip casting for the preparation of non-oriented silicon steel has attracted widespread attention in recent years, but related reports are limited. In this study, both one- and two-stage cold rolling with three intermediate annealing temperatures were employed to produce strip cast non-oriented silicon steel. The evolution of the microstructure and texture through the processing routes and its effect on magnetic properties were studied. Compared with one-stage rolling, two-stage rolling increased the in-grain shear bands and the retention of Cube texture in the cold rolled sheets, thereby promoting the nucleation of favorable Goss and Cube grains and restraining the nucleation of harmful {111}<112> grains. With the increase in intermediate annealing temperature, the eta-fiber texture in annealed sheets was gradually enhanced, and the average grain size was increased, leading to significant improvement of magnetic properties.