Inclusion engineering and metallurgy of calcium treatment

Abstract

Although a great deal of research has been done in the area of inclusion control during steelmaking, a complete description of the process of inclusion modification and shape control cannot be found in literatures. As a result, the terms “inclusion modification” and “shape control” are often used loosely in the technical community. To utilize the full potential offered by a calcium treatment, it is important to understand why an inclusion whose composition has been modified may not necessarily have its shape modified. With the purpose of decoupling the process of inclusion phase change from inclusion shape control, and to provide a complete description of the metallurgy of calcium treatment, a detailed literature survey has been performed on the subject. By coupling the survey with a new concept developed to tailor the cleanliness of steels to the intended applications, the hope is to provide the reader with valuable information on calcium treatment for inclusion modification and shape control.