Abstract
As a consequence of steadily increasing demands on the control of macro segregation in high quality steel products, voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH started investigations on the application of the soft reduction technique for the five strand round bloom caster CC3.
Between the years 2006 and 2010, a broad variety of different plant trials with steel grades ranging from 0.8 to 1.05 %C were conducted. The experiments started with the given pinch roll configuration at the pilot strand number one and finally provided a wide understanding of the influence of soft reduction on the solidification structure and on the concentration level in the core region.
As a part of this project, a time and cost efficient method for the quantification of the center segregation was established. In addition, numerous segregation values were collected along the entire process route, from bloom to wire. As a consequence of the outstanding results, all five strands were equipped with a soft reduction unit in 2010.
Zusammenfassung
Motiviert durch ständig steigende Anforderungen an die Kontrolle von Makroseigerungen in Hochleistungsstählen wurden bei voestalpine Stahl Donawitz Untersuchungen über die metallurgischen Möglichkeiten der Soft Reduction an der Rundstranggießanlage CC3 gestartet. Zwischen 2006 und 2010 wurden an einem Versuchsstrang ein Vielzahl von Versuchen mit Stählen zwischen 0,8 und 1,05 % durchgeführt. Als Teil des Versuchsprogramms wurde auch eine kostensparende und aussagekräftige Methode zur Messung der Zentrumsseigerung entwickelt und die Anreicherung über die nachfolgenden Prozessschritte bis zum Fertigprodukt verfolgt. Im Jahr 2010 wurden alle fünfStränge der CC3 mit einer Soft Reduction Einheit ausgestattet.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hayakawa, S.; Shinkai, M.; Kashima, T.: Improvement of center quality of continuous cast round bloom with soft reduction, 3rd European conference on continuous casting, Madrid, Spain, 1998, pp 225–233
Reichert, A.; Tacke, K. H.; Harste, K.; Hecht, M.; Heilmann, J.; Ölmann, U.; Schwertfeger, K.; Barber, B.; Beaverstock, R. C.; Walmsley, R.: Strand reduction in continuous casting and its effect on product quality, European Commission technical steel research, EUR 20190EN, 2000
Domitner, J.; Wu, M.; Kharicha, A.; Ludwig, A.; Kaufmann, B.; Reiter, J.; Schaden, T.: Modeling the effect of strand surface bulging and mechanical soft reduction on the macrosegregation formation in steel continuous casting, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Volume 45 (2014), no. 3, pp 1415–1434
Sakaki, G.S.; Kwong, A.T.; Petozzi, J.J.: Soft reduction of continuously cast blooms at Stelco’s Hilton Works, 78th Steelmaking Conference, Nashville, 1995, pp 295–300
Tohru, S.; Hirotaka, M.; Katsuyoshi, I.; Hiroshi, T.; Akiyoahi, M.: Improvement of internal quality of large section concast bloom with soft reduction, The Sumitomo Search, 42 (1990), p 2531
Suzuki, M.; Kimura, K.; Kawami A.; Mizutani, M.: Improvement in center segregation of high carbon steel continuous casting blooms, La Revue de Metallurgie, 89 (1992), pp 83–92
Raihle, C. M.; Sivesson, P.; Tukiainen, M.; Fredriksson, H.: Improving inner quality in continuously cast billets: comparison between mold electromagnetic stirring and thermal soft reduction, Iron and Steelmaking, 21 (1994), no. 6, pp 487–495
Thong, P. Do; Jolivet, J. M.; Lopes, C.; Gratacos, P.; Roquet, J.; Selaries, J.: Thermomechanical simulation of continuously cast long products. Application to the control of internal quality using soft reduction, La Revue de Metallurgie, 92 (1995), no.pp 528–534
Silvesson, P.; Hällen, G.; Widell, B.: Improvement of inner quality of continuously cast billets using electromagnetic stirring and thermal soft reduction, Ironmaking and Steelmaking, 25 (1998), no.3, pp 239–246
Jauch, R.; Courths, W.; Hentrich, R.; Jung H. P.; Litterscheidt, H.; Sowka, E.: Elektromagnetisches Rühren im Sekundärkühlbereich von Vorblock und Klüppelstranggießanlagen, Stahl u. Eisen, 104 (1984), Nr. 9, pp 29–34
Rauter, W.: Über die Bedeutung der Erstarrungsstruktur in Hinblick auf die Heißrissbildung beim Stranggießen von Vorblöcken, Hot Cracking Workshop (14. Dezember 2010), TU-Graz
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rauter, W., Reiter, J., Srienc, K. et al. Soft Reduction at a Round Bloom Caster: Implementation and Results. Berg Huettenmaenn Monatsh 159, 454–460 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-014-0309-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-014-0309-2