Silicon steel

Silicon steel is a silicon alloy steel with a silicon content of 1.0~4.5% and a carbon content of less than 0.08%. It has the characteristics of high permeability, low coercivity, and large resistivity, so hysteresis loss and eddy current loss are small. Mainly used as magnetic materials in automobiles, motors, transformers, electrical appliances and electrical instruments.

Important physical properties of silicon steels include resistivity, saturation induction, magneto-crystalline anisotropy, magnetostriction, and Curie temperature. Resistivity, which is quite low in iron, increases markedly with the addition of silicon. Higher resistivity lessens the core loss by reducing the eddy current component. Raising the silicon content will lower magnetostriction, but processing becomes more difficult. The high Curie temperature of iron will be lowered by alloying elements.