The spontaneous emulsification of entrained inclusions during casting of high aluminum steels

Mold slag entrainment during the continuous casting process presents a late stage source of non-metallic inclusions (NMI) with a high likelihood of ending up in the final product. The reaction between the entrained slag phase and surrounding liquid steel in the continuous casting mold affects the inclusion morphology and properties. However, there is a lack of information on the kinetics of the NMI-steel reaction. A novel approach, utilizing controlled synthetic inclusion/metal samples, has been developed to study the reactions between free inclusion-slag droplets and steel. The technique combines High-Temperature Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy (HT-CSLM), X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) and advanced electron microscopy techniques offering rapid controlled heating performance and extensive characterization of the samples. This method offers the ability to observe the size, shape and composition of an unconstrained reacting inclusion and to investigate the interface between the materials with respect to reaction time. This study interrogates a low aluminum steel (0.04 wt pct) and a high aluminum steel (1 wt pct) in contact with an inclusion-slag phase with a starting composition aligned to a typical mold slag. It was found that the reaction between silica and aluminum across the interface of the two phases provided a driving force for spontaneous emulsification to occur. Products of such emulsification will have a significant effect on the inclusion size distribution and potentially the prevalence of inclusion retention in molten steels solidifying in the continuous caster (for example if emulsified buoyancy forces are reduced to near zero) and hence in the subsequent solid product

2D automated SEM and 3D X-ray computed tomography study on inclusion analysis of steels

In this research work, inclusion analysis was done on titanium micro-alloyed low carbon steels using automated scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), and 3D X-ray computed tomography (XCT) techniques. Automated SEM/EDS analysis provided the information about the average size, number, shape, and the composition of the inclusions. The inclusions are categorized as calcium aluminates, titanium nitrides, and ‘other’ inclusions with an average size of 1.66, 1.52, and 1.31 µm, respectively. To estimate the actual amount of inclusions present and to understand their 3D morphologies, XCT analysis was done at two different resolutions of 1.8 µm and 590 nm. The employment of these resolutions enabled the technique to detect huge number of inclusions with a wide size range from 0.75 to 201.4 µm. Moreover, the XCT technique revealed the presence of complex irregular shaped inclusions. Effective combination of these two techniques for inclusion analysis gives complete quantified information about the inclusions present in steels