The purpose of this diploma thesis was to study the influence of magnetic aging on selected properties of samples of non-oriented electrical sheets. These are cold-rolled semi-finished products of Fe–Si and Fe–Si–Al alloys, often used in electric rotating machines, generators and electric motors.
Samples of three different qualities of non-oriented electrical steel, produced by the company SIJ Acroni, d. o. o, contained different concentrations of carbon; they were aged at atmospheric pressure in four different conditions for 12 and 24 hours, respectively. The samples were metallographically prepared and examined with a light and scanning electron microscope.
The effect of magnetic aging on the samples was observed by means of Vickers hardness measurements and by measuring core loss at 50 Hz and 1.5 T with an Epstein frame. It was found that the hardness values of the samples decreased with longer aging time, while the core loss increased with said time. In all the microstructures of the samples, cementite was observed along the crystal boundaries, which was already precipitated during the recrystallization annealing. This cementite significantly changed the values of core loss after aging, as there were no large differences in the change of said loss during aging at different aging temperatures due to precipitation of carbon on it.
This discovery can be of great practical importance, as aging at lower temperatures allows for a good assessment of changes in magnetic loss even at higher temperatures, which would lower the cost of aging industrial samples compared to the aging required by the SIST EN 10106:2016 standard. It was also discovered that in the case of an intermediate interruption of aging according to the mentioned standard, the final properties of electrical steel do not change within the experimental errors.
In one group of samples, an extremely large increase in core loss was detected during aging, which was shown to be due to the precipitation of a copper-rich phase. Additional investigations will be required to determine the exact phase precipitated.
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