EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF FURNACE ATMOSPHERE IN ANNEALING OF STEEL LAMINATIONS

Abstract The oxidation behavior of a cold rolled motor lamination (CRML) steel was investigated in a simulated exothermic atmosphere and a nitrogen/hydrogen atmosphere. The weight gain and the surface composition after annealing were studied using Thermo-gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). respectively. We found that annealing in the exothermic atmosphere increased the surface oxidation. The nitrogen/hydrogen annealing atmosphere significantly reduced the surface oxidation.