Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Steel

1. Resistivity

In comparison to iron, silicon steel shows a significant increase in resistivity. This increase reduces core loss by minimizing the eddy current component, hence improving energy efficiency.

2. Saturation Induction

The degree to which silicon steel can be magnetized, or its saturation induction, is another vital property. The higher the silicon content, the lower the saturation induction. It's a balancing act between maintaining high resistivity and ensuring adequate saturation induction.

3. Magneto-crystalline Anisotropy and Magnetostriction

These properties influence how the material behaves under the influence of magnetic fields and mechanical stress, respectively. While increasing silicon content lowers magnetostriction, the processing becomes more challenging.

4. Curie Temperature

The Curie temperature, which is quite high for iron, can be reduced by alloying elements. However, the decrease doesn't significantly impact silicon steel users.

Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

Applications of Oriented Silicon Steel

Oriented silicon steel is utilized in a variety of transformers and generators. For transformers, factors like economic considerations, transformer rating, noise level requirement, loss requirements, operating density, and core size all play a role in determining the material grade and gauge. As for generators, the steel is used in both steam turbines and water wheels.