Magnetic behaviour versus tensile deformation mechanisms in a non-oriented Fe–(3 wt.%)Si steel

Abstract This study presents an extended in situ magnetic characterisation of a non-oriented (NO) Fe–(3 wt.%)Si steel. An appropriate experimental device was created and magnetic measurements were performed under uniaxial tensile stresses approaching and exceeding the macroscopic elastic limit σ e and in the corresponding unloaded states. Both Barkhausen noise and B–H hysteresis loops were measured. The sensitivity to stress was found to be qualitatively similar to that of polycrystalline iron. The different stages of the tensile deformation (perfectly elastic stage, microplastic yielding stage, the two strain-hardening stages) were clearly identified by the magnetic parameters. In the plastic strain domain, the coercive field H c and the inverse of the initial relative permeability 1/ μ r i linearly increase, while the maximal relative permeability μ r max and the Barkhausen noise peak height BN max linearly decrease with the applied stress σ . The remnant induction B r keeps a low and constant value. Furthermore, a linear dependence of 1/ μ r i , H c , μ r max and BN max on the kinematic hardening X was found. By using measurements on prestrained specimens under reloaded elastic stresses, an accurate identification of the effect of dislocations acting as pinning sites and of the magnetoelastic effect of long-range internal stresses was proposed.