Changes of inclusion, texture and magnetic property of non-oriented Si steel treated by Ca alloy

Based on the industrial production of non-oriented Si steel, Ca treatment by Ca alloy adding during the RH refining process was studied. The changes of inclusion, crystal texture and microstructure, and its effect on magnetic properties of final steel sheets were analyzed. The results showed that, in present work, Ca treatment can improve the texture proportion of {110} and {111} significantly, and the formation of MnS and AlN inclusions were restrained. Meanwhile, the recrystallization effects of hot rolled strip get bad and the fiber structure enhanced obviously. The grain size of finished steel sheets increased as the increase of Ca alloy adding amount quickly, and then decreased. Compared with the non-Ca treatment charge, the numbers of inclusions whose size below 1.0μm will decrease by 68.06%, 87.50% and 94.94%, the texture proportion of {110} and {111} was 30.3%, 39.1%, 17.6% and 2.8%, 5.5%, 20.6%, while the correspondent Ca alloy adding amount is 0.67 kg/t steel, 1.00 kg/t steel and 1.67 kg/t steel, respectively. In addition, the core loss gradually decreases to a stable level as the increasing of Ca added, and the magnetic induction decreases quickly after slow increasing, respectively. The optimal Ca treatment mode depends on the chemical compositions of steel grades.