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Quantitative Characterization of Inclusions in Continuously Cast High-Carbon Steel

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Abstract

Existing standards for the characterization of the size, morphology, chemistry, and distribution of inclusions in steels using different techniques are briefly reviewed in this work. Strengths and shortfalls of different methods are discussed, and a combination of different criteria is used to quantitatively characterize the inclusions in a continuously cast high-carbon steel. It is shown that the main elements in the inclusions for the studied steel were Mn, S, Ti, Al, and oxygen and that alongside MnS and some Al2O3 inclusions many non-metallic inclusions appeared in complex forms, consisting of silicates, sulfides, and different types of oxides. Duplex inclusions, mainly cores of Al2O3, or SiO2 surrounded by MnS were the most common complex multiphase inclusions in this steel. An industrial approach was used to classify the inclusions into thirteen different oxide types. Based upon this approach, data are presented according to the chemistry of inclusions using diagrams featuring different quantitative parameters. Furthermore, it is shown that the number of oxides per unit area and the size of oxides, respectively, decreased and increased with increasing distance from the surface of the bloom which had solidified at the highest cooling rate.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding this project and Tata Steel UK for supplying the material, the use of automated SEM facilities, and their in-house chemistry analysis spreadsheet package. The help of Dr. Andrew Rose from Tata Steel UK is very much appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, U.K.

    Masoumeh Faraji (Research Fellow)

  2. Materials Science and Engineering Department, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K.

    Richard Thackray (Lecturer), Iain Todd (Professor) & Panos Tsakiropoulos (Professor)

  3. FEI UK Ltd, Cambridge, U.K.

    David P. Wilcox ( Researcher and EM Specialist, Field Service Engineer)

  4. Beta Technology, Doncaster, U.K.

    Andrew A. Howe (Visiting Professor, Consultant)

  5. The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K.

    Masoumeh Faraji (Research Fellow)

Authors
  1. Masoumeh Faraji
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  2. David P. Wilcox
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  3. Richard Thackray
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  4. Andrew A. Howe
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  5. Iain Todd
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  6. Panos Tsakiropoulos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masoumeh Faraji.

Additional information

Manuscript submitted April 16, 2013.

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Faraji, M., Wilcox, D.P., Thackray, R. et al. Quantitative Characterization of Inclusions in Continuously Cast High-Carbon Steel. Metall Mater Trans B 46, 2490–2502 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-015-0442-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-015-0442-7

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