Effect of Gravity on the Macro-Segregation of Larger Steel Ingots

Upon the problem involved in the study of solidification and segregation of larger steel ingots numerous papers have hitherto been published. Nevertheless their nature is still vague from both the scientific and practical points of view. Previous studies have been devoted to the measurement of specific physical values of molten steel, the detailed observation of the sections of solidified ingots, simulat-ion experiments using different materials, experiments on the formation and change of non-metallic inclusions, etc. Isn't there any room for re-examination in these methods of study? Even if these items could be clarified in details, it would not give rise to a satisfactory solut-ion for the phenomenon of ''differential freezing" and to the reduction of segregation and other accompanied defects. We feel much necessity of thorough studies on the solidi-fication and segregation of large steel ingots, before we rush into the epoch of large scale vacuum casting of steel ingots