Abstract
The inclusions formed in 304L stainless steel for nuclear power produced by the electric arc furnace (EAF)-argon oxygen decarburization furnace (AOD)-ladle furnace (LF)-continuous casting (CC) process were investigated by thermodynamics calculations and experimental results. The results showed that the inclusions after AOD and LF refining were almost the same as the slag composition. The types of inclusions (sizes larger than 5 µm) were mainly CaSiO3 with high SiO2 content at the end of AOD, and Ca2SiO4 with high CaO content at the end of LF. The Al2O3 and MgO content of inclusions increased from AOD to LF. There were two types of inclusions in the tundish: CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO and CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-MnO inclusions with MgO·Al2O3 spinel precipitation. The content of Al2O3 in the inclusions increased rapidly with the decrease in temperature from the end of LF refining to continuous casting, as calculated using FactSage6.3 software. The rapid increase of Al2O3 in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-(MnO) inclusions promoted the precipitation of MgO·Al2O3 spinel in continuous casting tundish, suggesting mechanisms for the formation of inclusions in the 304L stainless steel.
Highlights
With good corrosion resistance, favorable mechanical properties, and excellent cold and hot processing properties, austenitic stainless steel is used in the petroleum, chemical, aerospace, and nuclear industries [1,2]
The total oxygen (T.O) content decreased during the steelmaking process
The levels of Mg and Al increased in the steel from the argon oxygen decarburization furnace (AOD) to ladle furnace (LF) stages and the MgO and
Summary
Favorable mechanical properties, and excellent cold and hot processing properties, austenitic stainless steel is used in the petroleum, chemical, aerospace, and nuclear industries [1,2]. For safe use in these harsh application environments, the purity and content of carbon and nitrogen, and the impurity elements of 304L austenitic stainless steel must be strictly controlled. The effective control of non-metallic inclusions is very important for the production of 304L stainless steels for nuclear power applications. The evolution mechanism of inclusions in austenitic stainless steel has been widely studied [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
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