1992 Volume 33 Issue 11 Pages 1068-1076
Grain boundary segregation in Fe-3 mass%Si alloys doped with tin was investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), in order to shed light on a fact that tin addition modifies secondary recrystallization of Si steels. It was found that in decarburized specimens tin was segregated at grain boundaries and its segregated amount increased with the bulk tin content. The effective grain boundary segregation energy of tin was estimated from the results, and the kinetics of the grain boundary segregation of tin was discussed.
As related to a phenomenon that the size of precipitates (inhibitors) in silicon steels becomes smaller by tin addition, interfaces between precipitates and matrix were also examined with AES. Significant segregation of tin was found at the interface between MnS and the matrix. This indicates that the tin segregation at the interface can affect morphology or size of the precipitates. The influence of tin on primary recrystallization and secondary recrystallization of Si steels was discussed from these results.
