Effect of nish rolling temperature on static recrystallisation in hot bands of electrical steel containing 1·3% silicon

The effect of the finish rolling temperature (FRT) on recrystallisation behaviour in hot bands of an electrical steel containing 1·3%Si was investigated. Four sequential passes of hot rolling were carried out on the 1·3%Si electrical steel, with finish rolling temperatures ranging from 980 to 700°C, followed by isothermal annealing at 720°C. The experimental results showed that when Ar ₁ <FRT <Ar ₃, fine equiaxed subgrains formed at the boundaries between deformed and non-deformed grains in a necklacelike arrangement, and strain induced boundary migration (SIBM) was the main mechanism corresponding to the formation of recrystallisation nuclei for steels finish rolled below Ar ₁. However, the study also demonstrated that when FRT <(Ar ₁­100 K), a second nucleation mechanism, i.e. subgrain growth, became active in recrystallisation, this resulted in an increase of nucleus density. Steels in which SIBM was the dominant mechanism of recrystallisation possessed the largest grain size, and strongest textures with major component {100}〈110〉.