Influence Mechanisms of Trace Rare-Earth Ce on Texture Development of Non-Oriented Silicon Steel

The effects of trace Ce on the microstructure and texture of non-oriented silicon steel during recrystallization and grain growth were examined using X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction. Additionally, this study focused on investigating the mechanisms by which trace Ce influences the evolution of the {114} <481> and γ-fiber textures. During the recrystallization process, as the recrystallization fraction of annealed sheets increased, the intensity of α-fiber texture decreased, while the intensities of α*-fiber and γ-fiber textures increased. The {111} <112> grains preferentially nucleated in the deformed γ-grains and their grain-boundary regions and tended to form a colony structure with a large amount of nucleation. In addition, the {100} <012> and {114} <481> grains mainly nucleated near the deformed α-grains, which were evenly distributed but found in relatively small quantities. The hindering effect of trace Ce on dislocation motion in cold-rolled sheets results in a 2-7% lower recrystallization ratio for the annealed sheets, compared to conventional annealed sheets. Trace Ce suppresses the nucleation and growth of γ-grains while creating opportunities for α*-grain nucleation. During grain growth, trace Ce reduces γ-grain-boundary migration rate in annealed sheets, providing growth space for {114} <418> grains. Consequently, the content of the corresponding {114} <481> texture increased by 6.4%, while the γ-fiber texture content decreased by 3.6%.