Origin of Goss texture in grain oriented electrical steel: Role of shear bands

Goss ((110)[001]) orientation is preferred in high silicon electrical steel used in transformer core to obtain superior magnetic properties with minimum hysteresis loss. The origin of Goss orientation along with its stability during the processing is crucial and not completely understood. Present study explores the possibility of the development of Goss orientation inside shear bands of a cold rolled polycrystalline Fe-3.78%Si steel by Electron Back Scatter Diffraction and crystal plasticity based analysis. Heterogeneous deformation in the form of shear bands has been observed during cold rolling of hot band annealed plate. Near Goss ((221) [(1) over bar(1) over bar4]) and Rotated Cube ((001) [1 (1) over bar0]) orientations have been found to evolve inside the Type-I and Type-II shear bands of (111) [(1) over bar(1) over bar2] oriented grains, respectively. Crystal plasticity based study reveals that under pure shear loading on an inclined plane, Goss orientation may evolve inside the shear bands of (111) [ (1) over bar<(1over bar>2] oriented grain. Consideration of Taylor factor further indicates that geometrical softening is associated with shear banding and facilitate its development. Present study provides direct evidence on the evolution of Goss orientation inside shear band through EBSD analysis. These shear bands may alone accomplish the requirement of Goss orientation in the cold rolled grain oriented electrical steel.