X-Ray Texture Analyzing System for the On-Line Prediction of Magnetic Anisotropy

Abstract

The global competition for the production of high quality oriented Fe-Si steel and other magnetic materials is increasing, and therefore, there is demand for the characterization of the materials’ properties and crystallographic texture. Because it is important to minimize down time in any manufacturing process, it is logical that these demands should be met with on-line systems using non-destructive evaluation techniques. To this end, we have been designing on-line NDE systems for use throughout the manufacturing process to quantitatively understand the affects of different processing conditions on the texture of the material. As the texture is one of the most dominant characteristics of both steels and the new hard magnetic materials, the information can be used to tune the processing conditions to attain optimum end result material properties. Ultimately, the on-line texture analyzing systems will be used in a feed back loop for the on-line control of material properties.