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Microstructure and plasticity improvement of Nb-microalloyed high-silicon electrical steel

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Abstract

In this paper, the effects of Nb contents (0.05 ~ 0.50wt%) and hot rolling temperatures (1000 ~ 1200 °C) on microstructure and mechanical properties of high-silicon electrical steel were studied. The results show that adding a small amount of Nb can significantly improve the plasticity of high-silicon electrical steel. Compared with the specimens without Nb, the three-point bending load–deflection curves of the alloys with Nb contents of 0.05 ~ 0.50wt% after warm rolling showed obvious plastic stage. The average fracture deflection increases from 4.5 to 9.9 mm with the Nb content increasing from 0.05 to 0.50wt%. When the hot rolling temperature is 1000 °C, the Nb-containing high-silicon electrical steel has a layered microstructure along the thickness direction. The surface layer is equiaxed grains with dynamic recrystallization, while the center of the thickness is a long strip structure with dynamic recovery. The mechanism of Nb microalloying to improve plasticity includes three aspects: Firstly, the layered structure hinders the propagation of cracks and delays the progress of fracture; secondly, a large number of fine Nb precipitates will hinder the grain growth and refine the grains; thirdly, the formation of the Nb-precipitated phase destroys the ordered rearrangement between adjacent Fe and Si atoms in the matrix, inhibits the ordered transformation and reduces the ordered degree of high-silicon electrical steel. When the hot rolling temperature is increased to 1100 °C or above, the layered structure disappears, the grain coarsens obviously, and the plasticity of the warm-rolled specimens is significantly reduced.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52090041) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019TQ0031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing (MOE), University of Science and Technology Bei**g, Bei**g, 100083, China

    Guangtao Lin, Zhihao Zhang, Fan Zhao & Jianxin **e

  2. Bei**g Laboratory of Metallic Materials and Processing for Modern Transportation, University of Science and Technology Bei**g, Bei**g, 100083, China

    Guangtao Lin, Zhihao Zhang, Fan Zhao & Jianxin **e

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Correspondence to Zhihao Zhang.

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Lin, G., Zhang, Z., Zhao, F. et al. Microstructure and plasticity improvement of Nb-microalloyed high-silicon electrical steel. J Mater Sci 57, 500–516 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06651-1

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