Abstract: Effects of normalizing temperatures on the microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of the 50W800 hot rolled sheets were investigated by optical microscopy and EBSD technique. The results showed that the grains in surface regions are coarsened significantly after normalization, and the grain sizes can reach more than 500 μm. Normalization can increase the magnetic induction B50 by 0.041 T and reduce the iron loss P1.5/50 by 0.6 W/kg. Compared with the final sheets without normalizing treatment, the {111} texture ratio of the normalized final sheets decreased, the Goss texture ratio slightly increased, and the magnetic induction increased. There is no direct relationship between the grain sizes of the final sheets and the initial grain sizes of the normalized sheet. The larger the initial grain size is, the stronger the nucleation at shear bands in deformed sheets, and the smaller the recrystallized grain sizes after recrystallization. It is noted that the non{111} oriented grain grows faster than the {111} oriented one during further annealing, therefore, prolonging the holding time can effectively improve magnetic properties.

Key words: normalization, electrical steel, grain size, texture, magnetic properties