The Influence of Na2O on the Solidification and Crystallization Behavior of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-Based Mold Flux

Abstract

The reaction between [Al] and SiO2 sharply increased the Al2O3 and decreased SiO2 contents in mold flux during the continuous casting of high-Al steels. These changes converted original CaO-SiO2-based flux into CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based flux, promoting the crystallization and deteriorating the mold lubrication. Therefore, study on the solidification and crystallization behavior of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based mold flux, with the applicable fluidizers, is of importance. The effect of Na2O, predominantly used as the fluidizer in mold flux, on the solidification and crystallization behavior of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based mold flux needs to be investigated. In this study, a CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based mold flux containing 6.5 wt pct Li2O was designed; the effect of Na2O on the solidification and crystallization behavior of these mold fluxes was investigated using the single hot thermocouple technique (SHTT) and the double hot thermocouple technique (DHTT). Moreover, the slag film obtained by a heat flux simulator was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicate that the solid fraction of molten slag (Fs) and the crystalline fraction of solid slag (Fc) in the mold slag films decrease with increasing Na2O content from 0 to 2 wt pct. However, Fs and Fc increased when the Na2O content increased from 2 to 6 wt pct. The critical cooling rates initially decreases and then increases with increasing Na2O content. The XRD analysis results show that LiAlO2 and CaF2 were the basic crystals for all the mold fluxes. Increasing the Na2O content both inhibits the Ca2Al2SiO7 formation and promotes the production of Ca12Al14O33, indicating that the mold lubrication deteriorated because of the high melting-point phase formation of Ca2Al2SiO7 in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based mold flux containing 6.5 wt pct Li2O, without Na2O. The strong crystallization tendency also deteriorated the mold lubrication for the mold flux with a higher Na2O content. Therefore, the addition of Na2O was less than 2 wt pct in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-based mold flux to suppress crystallization and enhance mold lubrication.