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Mitigation of Corner Cracking in Continuously Cast Steel Slabs Through Strain Induced Crack Opening Test

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Abstract

Transverse corner cracks were encountered in plain carbon-manganese structural grades with 0.16–0.18% C during continuous casting. The thermo-mechanical stresses present during bending and straightening in secondary cooling regime along with ductility drop in specific temperature ranges was suspected to be the major aggravating factor leading to corner cracks in slabs. Their role was investigated through two-step compression tests wherein the specimens are deformed in two stages to generate secondary tensile strains similar to the ones present at slab corners during continuous casting. The tendency for corner cracking was found to be very high in the temperature range of 850–750 °C. The cracks were found to be intergranular occurring post austenite to ferrite transformation start temperature. The presence of non-metallic inclusions along the grain boundary leads to the formation of micro-fissures which coalesce under the action of external stresses and lead to cracks. It was identified that specimens failed at hoop strains much higher than the critical limit. The presence of excessively high thermo-mechanical stresses due to misalignment of caster roll segments was identified as the major factor causing corner cracks. Accordingly, corrective actions were taken which resulted in reducing the problem in all the affected grades.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. JSW Steel Ltd, Vijayanagar Works, Toranagallu, Karnataka, India

    Pranav Kumar Tripathi, D. Satish Kumar, T. Rajendra & S. C. Vishwanath

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  1. Pranav Kumar Tripathi
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  2. D. Satish Kumar
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  3. T. Rajendra
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  4. S. C. Vishwanath
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Correspondence to Pranav Kumar Tripathi.

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Tripathi, P.K., Kumar, D.S., Rajendra, T. et al. Mitigation of Corner Cracking in Continuously Cast Steel Slabs Through Strain Induced Crack Opening Test. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 1918–1931 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01758-w

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