Effect of lanthanum on recrystallization behavior of non-oriented silicon steel

Abstract Non-oriented silicon steels containing different mass fractions of lanthanum were prepared using a high-frequency suspended furnace. Microstructures were observed by a metallographic microscope and micro-orientations were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that at the annealing temperature of 870 °C, recrystallization started at 90 s and completed at 120 s during annealing. Without lanthanum, no matter Cube or {111}«110» grains, recrystallized grains nucleated mainly in deformed {111}«110» and {113}«031» grains. With lanthanum, however, they nucleated in the deformed {110} and {112}«132» grains. This indicated that addition of lanthanum changed the micro-orientation relationship between new grains and the matrix.