The Formation and Occurrence of Non-Metallic Inclusions of Si-Doped Steel during Continuous Casting

Abstract

Inclusion in steel material plays a decisive role on the purity of steels that becomes more important in the energy critical age. This study was focused on the number and morphology of inclusions with different cooling rate in the continuous casting process. A low carbon steel with 3.36 wt% silicon content was used as test material, which was soaked at 1100°C, 1250°C and 1400°C for 2 hours. The analyzed results of microstructure and chemical compositions showed the inclusions were not dissolved into matrix but formed as compounds like oxide, sulfide, and nitride after reheating at 1100°C. However, the inclusion size and average number possessed increasable trend, compared to as-cast sample. Manganese sulfide began to be dissolved into matrix by reheating at 1250°C. Some evidences showed the dissolution of aluminum nitride under the reheating at 1400°C. The inclusion size varied from 8 μm to 3 μm, and average number decreased with increasing soaking temperature.