Effect of Sulfur and Acid Soluble Aluminum Content on Precipitate and Microstructure of Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel

The combined effect of sulfur (S) and acid soluble aluminum (Al_s ) content on precipitates and microstructures in grain-oriented silicon steel were investigated. The results show that there are dominant AlN and a little amount of MnS-AlN composite in annealed hot-rolled band, and the amount of precipitates increases distinctly with increasing Al_s content, while S content plays a negligible role. The inhibitors that precipitate during hot band annealing can restrain the grain growth during hot band annealing and primary annealing, and the smaller grains of annealed hot-rolled band can contribute to the formation of {111} <112> texture during primary annealing. Lower S content is conducive to the formation of {111} <112> texture during primary annealing by promoting the formation of Goss texture during hot rolling.