Effect of vacuum arc and electroslag remelting on the anisotropy of the properties of structural steels

Conclusions

o 1.Melting steel by the ESR and VAR methods, and combination of the two, substantially increases the plasticity and ductility of structural steels 18Kh2N4VA, 40KhNMA, and 35Kh2GSMA both in the longitudinal and, particularly, the transverse directions. 2.ESR and VAR substantially reduce the coefficient of anisotropy of the impact toughness and the specific reduction in section. The higher the anisotropy of the original open-hearth melt, the greater the effect. 3.The effectiveness of these new melting methods in reducing the coefficient of anisotropy of the plasticity and ductility of structural steels is due directly to purification; the removal of nonmetallic inclusions, especially sulfides.

The use of a combination of ESR and VAR does not lead to any further reduction of the anisotropy coefficient. 4.The anisotropy coefficient of the impact toughness does not depend on the value of the strength. The anisotropy coefficient of the specific reduction in section for the steel tempered at high temperature is lower than for the steel quenched and tempered at low temperature. 5.The use of these new melting methods leads to an increase of the cold resistance.