Analysis of Micro-texture during Secondary Recrystallization in a Hi-B Electrical Steel

The understanding of Goss texture in Hi-B electrical steels possesses significant industrial and academic value, thus attracts worldwide attention. The prevailing models for sharp Goss texture formation during secondary recrystallization are CSL (coincident site lattice) boundary theory and HE (high energy) boundary theory. These theories stress the key factor of preferred growth and the difference between them only lies in the specific selection manner. This work examined the texture gradient in primarily recrystallized sheet and demonstrated its possible influence on the formation of secondary grains, and then determined the micro-texture during different stages of secondary recrystallization using EBSD (electron back-scattered diffraction) technique, finally analyzed a special type of secondary grains with near Brass orientation, which were detected in the later stage of secondary recrystallization, and discussed its origin and effect in terms of surface energy effect. The results indicate that texture gradient in primarily recrystallized sheet will lead to a multi-stage formation of Goss texture, namely, early stage of secondary grains with various orientations in subsurface region, intermediate stage of preferred growth of Goss grains into center layer and re-grow back to the surface and the final stage of Goss grain growth by swallowing slowly the island grains with the help of H2 atmosphere.