Magnetic properties of high Si steel with variable ordering obtained through thermomechanical processing.

Alloys with a Si content of 4.2 and 5.4 wt % Si were produced to investigate the effect of increasing the Si on the materials processing and properties and to understand the effect of the order -- disorder phenomenon on its magnetic properties. Different cooling rates after hot rolling were applied: Slow cooling from 780 °C to room temperature in 26 h, air cooling and water quench, followed by cold rolling until 0.5 to 0.7 mm thickness. Magnetic properties were measured after pickling and annealing at 950 °C for 2 h. [SUP57]Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to study the effect of thermomechanical cycles on the ordering phenomena. It was noticed that the quenched samples have the highest values for the magnetic polarization, while slowly cooled samples have the lowest, for the power losses higher values are obtained for the quenched materials. The highest values for the polarization in the quenched samples were explained as a result of a higher B2 ordering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]