Evaluation of Cold Rolling and Annealing Behavior of Extra-Low-Carbon Steel by Magnetic NDE Parameters
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors- Well written and good flow.
- A correlation of texture, dislocation, magnatic properties as well as mecchanical properties can further enhance the introduction.
- in 3.4 para, equation 1, 2, 3; is it from literature?
Author Response
The authors are thankful to the reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and suggestions. All the comments are carefully studied, and the corrections are incorporated in the revised manuscript. It definitely helped us to improve the manuscript quality.
All changes in the revised manuscript are highlighted in blue font for easy reference. Following is our response to reviewer’s comments.
Reviewers Comments
Following Reviewers’ feedback, the paper received general good comments, including the significance of the presented outputs.
There are still areas of improvement that are recommended for consideration to the Authors:
Q1. The Introduction must be enriched. This has been pointed out by both Reviewers, and Authors are recommended to elaborate upon this point.
Ans. The introduction is elaborated. New additions are in blue color in the revised manuscript.
Q2. The gaps in knowledge from where this research brings novelty require to be spelled out more clearly in the Introduction section.
Ans. The gaps in knowledge and novelty of this research are mentioned at the last paragraph of introduction section, as follows,
The reported literature mostly highlighted the change in the microstructure and mechanical behaviors upon deformation and annealing treatment, which are evaluated by analyzing its effect on EM-NDE parameters. In this research, we have correlated the parameters of microstructure, and mechanical and magnetic properties through a single curve, which will be beneficial to presume the material behaviors during its processing. For this purpose, a portable NDE device is utilized and workable under an industrial atmosphere without much surface treatment of tested materials.
Q3. The last paragraph of the Introduction indicates the direction of travel of the presented research. However, for clarity it is recommended to create a new section titled “Aims and Objectives”. In this way, it will be clearer what the Authors want to achieve from the bigger picture to the individual objectives.
Ans. Aims and objectives are separated in revised manuscript.
Q4. A Methodology section is missing in the current structure. More broadly, the Authors may wish to refer to a more general “Materials and Methods” framework. Regarding the methodological framework, the Authors are suggested to use a flowchart to link goals, approaches and NDT technologies utilised in this study.
Ans. A flow sheet of expereiment sequence is incorporated in the revised manuscript, as Fig.1.
Q5. Section “Experimental Details”: the Authors are recommended to use visual evidence of their experimental setup, including significant pictures of materials, equipment and – where appropriate – frameworks/conceptual sketches detailing the experimental setup. As of now, this is quite evidently a missing item in the paper.
Ans. The experimental setup is incorporated in the revised manuscript, as Fig.2.
Q6. Figs 5, 6, 8: please be consistent in the axes labelling – in the x axis some of the units are expressed in parenthesis without space and others they have space (i.e., “Annealing temperature(°C)” and “Annealing temperature (°C)”).
Ans. The x-axis titles of Figs. 5, 6 and 8 are corrected in the revised manuscript.
Q7. Conclusions: I is believed that the readers may benefit from any direction of the research envisaged by the Authors in the near future. If this is the case, the section can be renamed (e.g., “Conclusions and Future Research”). In addition and for consistency, make sure that the achieved results are mapped against the initially-set objectives.
Ans. Conclusions and future research are mentioned in the revised manuscript with the additional points of no. 6 and 7. It will make a clear sense of future research scope and the obtained results as per initial objectives.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsGeneral overview:
The manuscript presents a study on the microstructural evolution of an extra-low carbon steel subjected to annealing after cold deformation. To this end, the authors evaluate both mechanical and magnetic properties of the material in its deformed and annealed states at various temperatures. The main objective of the study is to investigate the effects of the annealing treatment on cold-deformed extra-low carbon steel and to correlate the resulting microstructural changes with non-destructive magnetic techniques, such as hysteresis loop analysis and Barkhausen emission.
Strengths:
The article is clearly and concisely written. It begins by presenting the microstructural changes that occur during annealing as the temperature increases, supported by experimental evidence.
Once the typical transformation stages of recrystallization annealing—recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth—are established, the study proceeds to analyze the magnetic behavior and correlates it with the observed microstructural evolution.
The article is well-structured, with a logical progression of ideas.
The approach of linking magnetic softening to mechanical softening and microstructural parameters (such as KAM) is particularly relevant, especially in the context of non-destructive evaluation of components where destructive testing is not feasible.
Weaknesses:
A significant number of the references cited are older than ten years. It is recommended to incorporate more recent studies to strengthen the current relevance of the work.
The discussion should be expanded regarding the advantages of using magnetic property evaluation as a viable alternative for assessing microstructural characteristics during the annealing of cold-deformed steels.
Additional comments:
Please specify the annealing duration on page 2, line 82, as it is later mentioned on page 2, line 181.
Reference [21] should be reviewed, as there appears to be a discrepancy in the author's reference. Additionally, reconsider the use of the word "recently” since the cited work of Gurruchaga dates to 2010.
Equation (3) should be corrected: in the denominator, kT appears to be a typographical error and should be replaced with ko.
Author Response
Manuscript ID: ndt-3590429
Title: Evaluation of cold rolling and annealing behavior of extra low carbon steel by magnetic NDE parameters
The authors are thankful to the reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and suggestions. All the comments are carefully studied, and the corrections are incorporated in the revised manuscript. It definitely helped us to improve the manuscript quality.
All changes in the revised manuscript are highlighted in blue font for easy reference. Following is our response to reviewer’s comments.
Reviewers Comments
Following Reviewers’ feedback, the paper received general good comments, including the significance of the presented outputs.
There are still areas of improvement that are recommended for consideration to the Authors:
Q1. The Introduction must be enriched. This has been pointed out by both Reviewers, and Authors are recommended to elaborate upon this point.
Ans. The introduction is elaborated. New additions are in blue color in the revised manuscript.
Q2. The gaps in knowledge from where this research brings novelty require to be spelled out more clearly in the Introduction section.
Ans. The gaps in knowledge and novelty of this research are mentioned at the last paragraph of introduction section, as follows,
The reported literature mostly highlighted the change in the microstructure and mechanical behaviors upon deformation and annealing treatment, which are evaluated by analyzing its effect on EM-NDE parameters. In this research, we have correlated the parameters of microstructure, and mechanical and magnetic properties through a single curve, which will be beneficial to presume the material behaviors during its processing. For this purpose, a portable NDE device is utilized and workable under an industrial atmosphere without much surface treatment of tested materials.
Q3. The last paragraph of the Introduction indicates the direction of travel of the presented research. However, for clarity it is recommended to create a new section titled “Aims and Objectives”. In this way, it will be clearer what the Authors want to achieve from the bigger picture to the individual objectives.
Ans. Aims and objectives are separated in revised manuscript.
Q4. A Methodology section is missing in the current structure. More broadly, the Authors may wish to refer to a more general “Materials and Methods” framework. Regarding the methodological framework, the Authors are suggested to use a flowchart to link goals, approaches and NDT technologies utilised in this study.
Ans. A flow sheet of expereiment sequence is incorporated in the revised manuscript, as Fig.1.
Q5. Section “Experimental Details”: the Authors are recommended to use visual evidence of their experimental setup, including significant pictures of materials, equipment and – where appropriate – frameworks/conceptual sketches detailing the experimental setup. As of now, this is quite evidently a missing item in the paper.
Ans. The experimental setup is incorporated in the revised manuscript, as Fig.2.
Q6. Figs 5, 6, 8: please be consistent in the axes labelling – in the x axis some of the units are expressed in parenthesis without space and others they have space (i.e., “Annealing temperature(°C)” and “Annealing temperature (°C)”).
Ans. The x-axis titles of Figs. 5, 6 and 8 are corrected in the revised manuscript.
Q7. Conclusions: I is believed that the readers may benefit from any direction of the research envisaged by the Authors in the near future. If this is the case, the section can be renamed (e.g., “Conclusions and Future Research”). In addition and for consistency, make sure that the achieved results are mapped against the initially-set objectives.
Ans. Conclusions and future research are mentioned in the revised manuscript with the additional points of no. 6 and 7. It will make a clear sense of future research scope and the obtained results as per initial objectives.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
