Evaluation of Steel Cleanliness in a Steel Deoxidized Using Al

Abstract

The effect of magnesium in the aluminum used as a deoxidizer on the cleanliness of steel was studied throughout a steelmaking route for the production of thin slabs. Two deoxidizers with different Mg contents were used. The Mg content of a “typical” deoxidizer was ~0.5 wt pct Mg, whereas that for an alternative deoxidizer was ~2 wt pct Mg. The inclusion population at different stages of the steelmaking process was characterized in terms of chemical composition, number, and size distribution. The inclusion modification path shows that the solid Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃-MgO inclusions formed in the early stage of the steel ladle treatment are modified into Al₂O₃-MgO-CaO liquid and MgO-Al₂O₃-liquid inclusions. Although some slight differences were observed in the ladle furnace samples, the chemical composition of inclusions was similar in the samples taken at the mold of the continuous casting, regardless of the deoxidizer used. Gumbel, generalized extreme value (GEV), and generalized Pareto (GP) distributions were used for the description of the size distribution. The GEV and GP distributions resulted in proper distributions to describe the evolution of size distribution throughout the steelmaking process. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences between inclusion size distributions resulting from the use of either deoxidizer were found.