Historical Development, Present Status and Future of Electrical Steel

After a general overview of Grain Oriented Electrical Steel product characteristics and of the main metallurgical phenomena responsible for the strong anisotropy of the texture of the finished product, the production cycle is described putting in evidence the key process steps peculiar of such a metallurgy. The historical development of the production technology is described, putting in evidence what, in the authors opinion, are the different important contributions to the evolution of production processes and the different metallurgical approaches which have driven such evolution. The analysis of the metallurgy of the latest innovation introduced in the Grain Oriented Electrical Steel production, namely the high temperature nitriding, and of the possible future evolution both regarding the products and the production process conclude the paper.