Effect of crystallographic texture on the bulk magnetic properties of non-oriented electrical steels

• Magnetic properties of a set of electrical steels were measured.
• The effect of crystallographic texture was isolated from other material parameters.
• A new texture factor is introduced called the Magnetic Texture Factor.

Quantitative physical models for non-oriented electrical steels require precise knowledge of chemical and microstructural parameters for the material, with crystallographic texture being one of the most important. Describing the structure–property relationships in these materials is made difficult in that all of the parameters have an effect on magnetic properties. In the present study, a set of non-oriented electrical steel specimens are examined, where chemistry and grain size are kept similar from sample to sample, but texture is varied. A new texture parameter called Magnetic Texture Factor is introduced which is defined as the ratio of the volume fractions of 〈100〉 direction to 〈111〉 direction along magnetization vector. It was found that this Magnetic Texture Factor was a better parameter for identifying trends of magnetic properties with crystallographic texture than the often used Texture Factor, which is described as the ratio of the volume fractions of {100} planes to {111} planes.