Possible influence of sulfur content on magnetic aging behaviors of non-oriented electrical steels

Abstract

Six non-oriented steel sheets of similar grade produced by different steel companies were used to analyze the magnetic aging behaviors after aging at 200°C for 48 h. It was observed that tiny S atoms, besides C and N, could also induce certain increase of core loss during aging. Thermodynamic calculation indicated that the nucleation driving force of FeS is much higher than those of Fe₃C and Fe₄N at low temperature, while S atoms, which tend to segregated around dislocations and boundaries, would diffuse rapidly along the crystalline defects while FeS particles would form. Therefore, higher content of tiny S atoms could increase core loss during service time of non-oriented steel sheets.

Keywords

non-oriented electrical steel / sulfur diffusion / magnetic aging / core loss