An Overview of Non-Destructive Testing of Goss Texture in Grain-Oriented Magnetic Steels

Abstract

Grain oriented steels are widely used for electrical machines and components, such as transformers and reactors, due to their high magnetic permeability and low power losses. These outstanding properties are due to the crystalline structure known as Goss texture, obtained by a suitable process that is well-known and in widespread use among industrial producers of ferromagnetic steel sheets. One of the most interesting research areas in this field has been the development of non-destructive methods for the quality assessment of Goss texture. In particular, the study of techniques that can be implemented in industrial processes is very interesting. Here, we provide an overview of techniques developed in the past, novel approaches recently introduced, and new perspectives. The reliability and accuracy of several methods and equipment are presented and discussed.

Keywords

• non-destructive techniques
• grain oriented electrical steels
• electron back-scattering diffraction
• magneto-optical Kerr effect
• Bitter pattern technique
• lag angle detection method