Analysis of oxide layer structure in nitrided grain-oriented silicon steel

The production of low-temperature reheated grain-oriented silicon steel is mainly based on the acquired inhibitor method.Due to the additional nitriding process,a high nitrogen content exists in the oxide layer,which changes the structure of the oxide layer.In this study,the structure of the surface oxide layer after nitriding was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),electron back-scattered diffraction(EBSD),glow discharge spectrometry(GDS),and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The size and orientation of ferritic grains in the oxide layer were characterized,and the distribution characteristics of the key elements along the thickness direction were determined.The results show that the oxide layer of the steel sample mainly comprised particles of Fe2SiO4 and spherical and lamellar SiO2,and Fe4N and fcc-Fe phases were also detected.Moreover,the size and orientation of ferritic grains in the oxide layer were different from those of coarse matrix ferritic grains beneath the oxide layer;however,some ferritic grains exhibited same orientations as those in the neighboring matrix.Higher nitrogen content was detected in the oxide layer than that in the matrix beneath the oxide layer.The form of nitrogen enrichment in the oxide layer was analyzed,and the growth mechanism of ferritic grains during the oxide layer formation is proposed.

Effects of Normalizing Annealing on Grain-oriented Silicon Steel

The grain-oriented silicon steel is a kind of important magnetic materials with low iron loss and high induc tion. Hot hand normalizing annealing is an important process which influences the microstructure and the development of the inhibitors. The effects of different annealing temperatures and cooling conditions on the inhibitors and microstructures of normalizing annealing band were investigated. The microstructure and different kinds of the inhibitors, i. e. , A1N, AIN＋Cu, S＋MnS, and TiN, were discovered. The result shows that a suitable cooling condition leads to more nano scale inhibitors and uniform microstructure of the normalizing annealing band and consequently results in better magnetic properties.

Modeling decarburization kinetics of grain-oriented silicon steel

A mathematic model has been presented to predict the decarburization kinetics of grain-oriented silicon steel sheet in the gas mixture of N2–H2–H2O during annealing.This model is based on the carbon flux balance between the oxidation reaction at the surface and the carbon diffusion inside the steel sheet.It can be numerically solved to quantify the influences of annealing temperature and atmosphere on decarburization kinetics when the boundary conditions are properly determined.In case that a humid gas mixture is employed during annealing,the most influential process parameter is temperature rather than compositions of the gas mixture,because the diffusion of carbon in ferrite is the rate-limiting step.Therefore,a higher temperature is required for the efficient decarburization of the thicker silicon steel sheet using the industrial continuous annealing production line.

Formation mechanism of surface oxide layer of grain-oriented silicon steel

The surface oxide layer of grain-oriented electrical steels was investigated by scanning electron microscopy.The formation mechanism and the influence on the glass film of the surface oxide layer were analyzed by the calculation of thermodynamics and kinetics.The surface oxide layer with 2.3μm in thickness is mainly composed of SiO_(2),a small amount of FeO and Fe_(2)SiO_(4).During the formation of surface oxide layer,the restriction factor was the diffusion of O in the oxide layer.At the initial stage of the decarburization annealing,FeO would be formed on the surface layer.SiO_(2) and silicate particles rapidly nucleated,grew and formed a granular oxide layer in the subsurface.As the oxidation layer thickens,the nucleation of new particles decreases,and the growth of oxide particles would be dominant.A lamellar oxide layer was formed between the surface oxide layer and the steel matrix,and eventually formed a typical three-layer structure.During the high temperature annealing,MgO mainly reacted with SiO_(2) and Fe_(2)SiO_(4) in the surface oxide layer to form Mg2SiO_(4) and Fe_(2)SiO_(4) would respond first,thus forming the glass film with average thickness of 4.87μm.