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Annealing of electrical steel

Conference Paper · September 2014

DOI: 10.1109/EDPC.2014.6984385

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 Annealing of Electrical Steel
Erik J. Hilinski, Gwynne H. Johnston
Steel Technology
Tempel Steel Company
Chicago, United States of America
ehilinski@tempel.com
ghjohnston@tempel.com
Abstract— Annealing of electrical steel, while classified
as a heat treating operation and subject to conventional
CQI-9 audit principles, is almost exactly the opposite of
most other heat treating operations. One of the primary
reasons for heat treating of steel is to harden or strengthen
it via carburizing, nitriding or similar where performance
is measured in terms of hardened case depth. Conversely,
annealing of electrical steel is designed to remove carbon
(decarburizing) from the bulk of the steel with concurrent
grain growth and stress relief. For electrical steel the
annealing performance is therefore measured in terms of
reduction in electrical losses. Data are presented showing
that core loss in electrical steel is increased by any form of
plastic and elastic stress. Furthermore, core loss is also
highly dependent on residual carbon, therefore any
additional reduction in carbon beyond that achieved in the
manufacturing process utilized by the steel mill, even in
the parts per million (ppm) range, further reduces core
loss. As a result, annealing can enable significant electrical
performance benefits by reducing core loss and exciting
current by as much as a steel grade level or more. The
chemistry and thermodynamic conditions for the
decarburization reaction must be carefully controlled so
that decarburization occurs without deleterious subsurface
oxidation. Examples are presented for both annealing of
semi-processed as well as fully processed electrical steels.
Even with highly alloyed, thin electrical steels, that are
used in high frequency applications, such as for Hybrid
Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Electric Vehicle (EV) motor
designs, annealing provides a material performance
benefit, but the property improvement is limited to
frequencies under 800 Hz, after which thickness and
resistivity become the dominant factors in controlling
losses.
Keywords—annealing; electrical steel; processing; heat
treating; hybrid electric vehicle
I. INTRODUCTION
Annealing of electrical steel is a niche application, not
widely practiced and largely not well understood in terms of
the benefits that can be derived. Electrical steel annealing is
very different when compared to conventional operations for
978-1-4799-5009-6/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
heat treating of steel. Standard automotive audit procedures
for heat treating of steel, such as CQI-9 [1] are constructed on
the basis that control features for conventional heat treating
also apply to annealing of electrical steel. The more widely
known processes for heat treating of steels utilizing controlled
atmospheres are for carburizing or nitriding the surface to
form a hard layer, frequently in conjunction with a more
ductile inner body [2,3]. Performance of the heat treating
operation is typically measured in terms of case depth and
surface hardness. Contrary to carburizing, annealing of
electrical steel relies on the removal of carbon, not just from
the surface but from the total volume of the steel [4-11].
Annealing of electrical steel is more prevalent in the United
States and its origins can be at least in some measure
attributed to historically lower energy costs for natural gas and
electricity. This concurrently enabled the growth of the
lamination punching and annealing industry, and the
development and adoption of semi-processed non-oriented
electrical steels and Cold Rolled Motor Lamination (CRML)
steels beginning in the 1950’s and 1960’s for use in small and
intermittent duty motors [12]. However, the benefits of
annealing in improving energy efficiency in high efficiency air
conditioning and refrigeration applications (on induction style
motors) are well known and practiced globally.
By contrast, the benefits of annealing in other applications
and industries, especially automotive, are not widely practiced
or understood. It is the intent of this paper to describe the
basic metallurgical reactions and microstructure changes that
occur when electrical steel is annealed, and to present the
improvement in material performance that can be achieved for
thin, high-grade electrical steels used in hybrid electric vehicle
(HEV) and electric vehicle (EV) applications.
II. EFFECTS RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
There are three primary effects that occur with annealing of
electrical steel, namely stress and strain relief, additional grain
growth, and decarburization.
A. Stress and Strain Effects
It is widely understood that the introduction of stress will
increase electrical losses in electrical steel [13-21]. This can be
demonstrated in a number of ways. The conventional process
of stamping of laminations introduces a heavily deformed
volume at all of the stamped perimeter and edges of the
lamination. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation of the
initial stage of material deformation is shown in Fig. 1, where
stress and strain is concentrated along the shear plane but
extends some distance away. The quantification of the effect
of stress and strain accumulation near the sheared edge is
shown in Fig. 2 via micro-hardness measurements in a
lamination cross-section. Table I presents the results for one
line of micro-hardness readings. The data show that, at a
distance of 0.038 mm from the stamped edge, the hardness is
232 HV (Vickers Hardness scale), and this reduces to 202 HV
at 0.076 mm from the stamped edge, and continues to decrease
to a distance of 0.635 mm from the stamped edge, where the
hardness is 98 HV. The conclusion is that stamping has caused
deformation adjacent to the stamped edge and has resulted in
an increase in hardness (and deformation) into the body of the
tooth. It is also clear that the same phenomenon occurs at each
stamped edge.
The relationship between deformation (in the form of both
stress and strain) on the properties of electrical steels has been
measured by a number of researchers in [13, 14, 15, and 19].
Data confirms that the imposition of stress, either compressive
or tensile, increases losses. An example of the deterioration in
core loss with imposed stress is shown in Fig. 3.
A different approach is required to measure the effects of
plastic deformation on electrical properties. One method is to
secure strips from a conventional Epstein pack, plastically
extend the strips to exact fixed extensions (using an
extensometer in a uniaxial tensile tester) and then measure the
electrical properties using an Epstein tester. Appropriate
compensation must be made for the reduction in width and
cross-sectional area. Results showing the effects of extension
as a function of core loss for grade 50AH470 in the as-
stamped (unannealed) condition are shown in Fig. 4.
The same Epstein samples that were subjected to exact
fixed extensions, followed by measurement of core loss and
other magnetic properties, were then annealed and tested using
the conventional Epstein test. This permits an exact
comparison of properties in the stress/strain condition together
with the properties post-anneal. These annealed results are
also shown in Fig. 4 to allow a direct comparison with the as-
stamped results. The data clearly show that, the effects of
elastic and plastic extension (deformation) in fully processed
electrical steel may be removed/eliminated by annealing.
B. Effect of Grain Size
Grain boundaries impede free movement of Bloch walls or
magnetic domains. Therefore, as overall grain boundary area
is reduced (grain size increases) there is less interaction
between the Bloch walls and the grain boundaries, resulting in

TABLE I. MICRO-HARDNESS MEASUREMENT RESULTS

Measured Hardness
Distance from Stamped Edge (mm)
(HV) (B)
0.038 232 98
0.076 202 93
0.127 197 93
0.178 179 89
0.254 148 79
0.381 140 77
0.635 98 53
Fig. 1. Finite element simulation of the lamination punching process
showing accumulation of stress and strain along the shear plane in the
initial stage of punching.

Fig. 2. Cross-section photomicrograph, 50x original magnification, of a Fig. 3. Example of the effect of elastic compression and tension on core
typical stamped tooth with the stamped edge on the left. The black dots loss for high frequency grades 27PNF1500, 30PNF1600 and 35PNF1800.
(squares) are the locations for each micro-hardness reading. Data provided courtesy of POSCO.
 Fig. 6. Change in hardness with increasing annealing time at various soak
temperatures for LTV Steel Sample No. 097 [23].

Fig. 4. Example of the effects of percent extension (plastic strain) on core

loss in W/kg measured at 1.5 T, 50 Hz for grade 50AH470 in the as-
stamped and annealed conditions.
lower total losses. Fig. 5 shows that hysteresis loss and total
iron loss decrease with increasing grain size in electrical steel
and eventually reach a plateau [22]
The significant effect of grain size may also be shown by
measurement of hardness in semi-processed CRML. Fig. 6
Fig. 7. Grain growth (strain induced boundary migration) occuring as a
presents the effects of different annealing cycles on hardness, result of lamination annealing of a low coreloss CRML steel.
where the decrease in hardness is the result of both Photomicrogaphs shown at an original magnification of 150x. Courtesy of
recrystallization and subsequent grain growth [23], an United States Steel Corporation
example of which is shown in Fig. 7 for a low core loss
CRML.

C. Effect of Carbon
Carbon (C) is extremely deleterious to electrical steel
magnetic properties. Under normal circumstances, an Iron–
Carbon alloy with 0.04 wt.% C would be considered “low-C”.
The precipitous slope shown for the effect of C lower than
about 0.015% in Fig. 8 clearly demonstrates that any further
removal of C, even in small amounts, has a positive impact on
reducing hysteresis losses [24]. This also explains why there
are benefits in further reducing the already ultra-low C levels
shipped from steel mills, typically 0.003 to 0.005 wt.% C, by

Fig. 8. The effect of percent carbon on hysteresis loss in iron-carbon

alloys, after Dietrich [24].
additional annealing, especially after stamping, to achieve C
levels of 0.001 wt.% C to 0.002 wt.% C or less in the final
part.
It is the experience of the authors and others [25] that there
is evidence to suggest that cogging torque and friction torque
are related to hysteresis losses and anisotropy in hysteresis loss,
especially in “feel sensitive” applications, such as with electric
power steering (EPS) motors. The data in Fig. 8 therefore
suggest that EPS motor “feel” might be improved by using
annealed laminations, since hysteresis loss reduction beyond
that achieved via composition modification or alloy additions is
possible.
Fig. 5. Relationship of steel core loss with average grain size for a non- The basic reaction involved in decarburization is:
oriented electrical steel, after Matsumura and Fukuda [22]
 C + H2O ↔ CO + H2,
where C is C dissolved in the steel, the Oxygen (O2) is
provided by water vapor (H2O) in the annealing atmosphere
and Carbon-monoxide (CO) and Hydrogen (H2) gases are
evolved. This reaction is known as the water-gas shift
reaction [8,9]. The reactions to be avoided are:
2Fe + O2 → 2FeO,
(1) where Silicon (Si), the main alloying element in the electrical
steel reacts with O2 in the annealing atmosphere to produce
damaging subsurface oxidation of Si [26-28]. The presence of
subsurface oxidation increases core loss and decreases peak
permeability as shown in Fig. 9.
Fortunately, there is a thermodynamic phase area which
favors decarburization, provided that the O2 partial pressure is
controlled to tight limits. This is usually achieved by
(2) dissociation of H2O, according to the reaction:

where Iron (Fe) present in the steel is reacted with O 2 provided 2H2O → O2 + 2H2. (4)
by the moisture in the annealing atmosphere used to drive
decarburization yielding iron oxide, and The extent of the dissociation reaction depends on the
concentration of H2 and H2O present. Thus it is clear that
Si + O2 → SiO2, (3) atmosphere control is especially important for control of the

Dew Point: 10°C Dew Point: 12°C Dew Point: 15°C

Dew Point: 18°C Dew Point: 21°C Dew Point: 24°C

Fig. 9. Formation of subsurface oxidation in a low-loss CRML steel with increasing anneal dew point in a 15% H2 balance N2 atmosphere and its effect on
core loss and relative peak permeability. Courtesy of United States Steel Corporation.
annealing process. This is even more important if exothermic
atmospheres are employed from combustion of natural gas,
giving a balance of Methane (CH4), Carbon-dioxide (CO2), H2,
CO, via:
CO2 + CH4 ↔ 2CO + 2H2,
and,
CH4 + 2H2O ↔ CO2 + 4H2,
with both of these reactions occurring concurrently with the
water-gas shift reaction (1).
Since C occurs in the steel as a dissolved element, reaction
of O2 with C is controlled at the surface of the steel and by
diffusion of C from the body of the steel to the surface. As a
result, annealing cycle times and conditions depend on initial
C content, temperature of reaction and time, as may be seen in
Fig. 10.
III. QUANTIFYING THE BENEFITS OF ANNEALING ON
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
Fig. 11 shows a series of 0.35 mm thick conventional fully
processed electrical steels with grades ranging from a low
grade core loss maximum of 3.00 W/kg at 1.5 T, 50 Hz to a
high grade core loss maximum of 2.10 W/kg at 1.5 T, 50 Hz.
The typical values vary somewhat depending on the steel
supplier but the data present average values. A significant
decrease in typical core loss occurs for all grades with the
biggest effect seen with the lower, high-core-loss grades. The
very clear implication is that performance, in terms of core
loss, can be improved significantly by annealing. This has the
obvious commercial benefit that costs may be reduced by
purchasing lower grades of electrical steel and then improving
their performance via annealing. In general, the costs for
annealing of these grades of electrical steel are significantly
lower than the costs resulting from purchasing the next lower
core loss grade. As can be seen in Fig. 11, annealing
improves the core loss by at least one grade, sometimes more.
There is one note of caution that must be mentioned. The
Fig. 10. Effect of initial Carbon content on decarburization rates of a Type
2 CRML, with a fixed soak temperature of 780°C [29]
(5)
(6)
Fig. 11. Typical core loss values for conventional 0.35-mm thick fully
processed electrical steel, as-received from the mill and compared with
results after annealing. The typical data has been averaged across several
suppliers.
response to anneal depends very much on the original supplier
of the electrical steel and the steelmaking process conditions.
Steels supplied by mills with newer equipment tend to respond
much better to lamination annealing. The effects are related to
a combination of steel cleanliness, lean-alloying strategies, hot
mill practice, and final continuous anneal conditions.
The benefits in reducing core loss also apply across a
range of frequencies. Fig. 12 shows a reduction in core loss
for 0.35 mm thick 35H250 grade fully processed electrical
steel as a result of annealing. The benefit remains up to 800
Hz. The implication is that there are benefits in annealing the
stators of motors used in high frequency applications,
especially automotive Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and
Electric Vehicle (EV) stators, where frequencies are less than
800 Hz. Above 800 Hz, the effects of thickness and alloy
content/resistivity, become dominant. In HEV and EV
applications, this has the benefit of extending fuel efficiency
in a cost effective way. As a side comment, it is not
necessary to anneal rotors used in permanent magnet design
HEV and EV applications because of the dominant effect of
the embedded permanent magnets in flux transfer. There is
some experience to suggest that annealing of rotors in a
permanent magnet design may actually have a small negative
effect on performance.
There is another important effect of annealing that is not
well known or appreciated. In addition to a reduction in core
Fig. 12. Effect of annealing as a function of frequency at 1.5 Tesla for a
0.35-mm thick 250 grade fully processed electrical steel.
loss as a result of annealing, there is also an improvement in
the magnetic flux density (B) versus peak magnetizing force
(Hp) characteristics of electrical steel. This effect is shown in
Fig. 13. The result of the change in B versus Hp
characteristics following annealing, is to reduce exciting
current, or to improve efficiency. The effect remains until
high field strengths are achieved.
IV. CONSISTENCY OF ANNEAL RESPONSE AND PROCESS
CONDITIONS
The one challenge that fails most companies involved in
annealing is demonstrable consistency of annealing to achieve
improvements without failures. Table 2 presents data for one
steel grade, a 0.35-mm thick 35H250 fully processed electrical
steel from one supplier, with test results in both the as-
received (as-stamped) condition as well as after the lamination
anneal. The data are abstracted from incoming inspection
reports, without editing, covering a year of production, namely
2013 in this case. Consistency is demonstrated based on the
improvement in core loss after annealing, the tight standard
deviations in both the as-stamped as well as the post-anneal
conditions, and the tight limits on both the maximum as well
as minimum core loss in both conditions.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Annealing of punched laminations drives three magnetic
property improving factors, stress and strain relief, additional
grain growth, and further decarburization. Key conclusions
are that:
1. Typical core loss is improved after annealing by at
least one grade, sometimes more.
2. B versus Hp characteristics are improved as a result
of annealing, resulting in lower exciting currents and
higher efficiencies.
3. There are clear advantages from annealing for
applications including air conditioning/refrigeration,
and automotive applications, especially HEV/EV
motors.
4. Not all steel grades from all suppliers respond as
favorably to annealing. Steel produced using older
steelmaking equipment or that is comparatively
“dirtier” or produced via rich alloying strategies
usually exhibits a poorer annealing response.
5. Consistency remains a challenge for many lamination
suppliers that employ annealing. However, with
good furnace design and the proper application of
technology to atmosphere and thermal profile control
it is possible to generate excellent, consistent results.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge POSCO and the
United States Steel Corporation for graciously allowing the
use of internally developed data in this paper. Furthermore,
the authors acknowledge the many colleagues at Tempel Steel
Company that provided support in developing the information
contained herein, and the Tempel Steel Company for
permission to publish this work.

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