Macrosegregation maps in industrial continuous casting low alloyed steel ingots

Abstract

Macrosegregation is a critical defect in industrial steel ingots in both conventional ingot castings and continuous castings. Improvements in terms of macrosegregation require to be able to precisely quantify the intensity and the repartition of macrosegregation along the cast product. However, traditional macrosegregation measurements are a tedious and time consuming process. In this study, three different product lengths of the same caster strand were taken during the same heat. Each sample was cut along the longitudinal central plane of the cast product. One additional transverse section was also cut for one of the sample. Drilling with constant spacing was performed on 50% of the area of longitudinal sections and 25% of the transverse section. Carbon and sulfur contents were then measured on each drilled location. Plotting methodologies to produce chemical maps are carefully described regarding the different parameters such as color map choices and normalization methods. Data for all the characterized sections is compared with each other and the differences are commented with the help of the process parameters.