Abstract: The effect of normalization process on the microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of 1.8 % Si non-oriented electrical steel were investigated, and the recrystallization of cold rolled sheets under different normalization processes was also studied. The results showed that normalization eliminated the deformation of hot rolled sheets and then affected the microstructures and textures of cold rolled sheets and final annealed sheets. The cold rolled sheets subjected to normalization process had a much lower nucleation rate, and the abundant shear bands and coarse deformed grains were conducive to the nucleation and growth of λ-fiber grains, which helped to increase the grain size and improve the texture. After normalization, the grain size increased and the favorable λ-fiber texture enhanced in the final annealed sheets.Compared to that without normalization, the average magnetic induction (B50) increased by 0.029 T and the iron loss (P1.5/50) decreased by 0.227 W/kg when normalizing at 1 000 ℃. Normalization is an effective way to improve magnetic properties.

Key words: non-oriented electrical steel, normalization, microstructure, texture