Electroslag Remelting Ingots Research Articles

Control of Steel Composition and Evolution of Inclusions During Electroslag Remelting of NiCrMoV High‐Strength Steel

Herein, the control of steel composition and evolution of inclusions during the electroslag remelting (ESR) of NiCrMoV high‐strength steel are investigated by laboratory experiments and thermodynamic calculations. The effects of slag systems, atmosphere protection, and surface quality of the consumable electrode are discussed. Results show that slag containing 5% TiO2 and 2% SiO2 is beneficial for controlling Ti and Si losses in steel during the ESR. Using argon gas protection reduces the total oxygen (TO) and nitrogen contents in ESR ingots and improves steel cleanliness, while it has little influence on the types of inclusions. The oxide scales on the electrode surface lead to the reoxidation of liquid steel during the ESR. The TO content increases to 113 ppm and Si, Ti, Als, and Mn contents in ESR ingots are considerably reduced. The inclusions are transformed from Al2O3–CaO–TiOx–MgO to MnO–SiO2–Al2O3–TiOx. Thermodynamic calculations reveal that the decrease in temperature promotes the precipitation of Ca2Ti2O5 and Ca2Ti2O6 in inclusions. As the oxygen content from reoxidation increases, the formation of SiO2 and MnO in inclusions in ESR ingots is promoted. Appropriate process parameters are proposed to control the composition and cleanliness of steel during the ESR.

Carbides refinement and mechanical properties improvement of H13 die steel by magnetic-controlled electroslag remelting

The effect of an axial static magnetic field (ASMF) on the carbides and mechanical properties of electroslag remelted H13 die steel was studied in current work. Optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to analyze the solidification structure and carbide morphology of electroslag remelting (ESR) ingots. The FEI Aspex Explorer was utilized to detect the inclusions in H13 ESR ingots. Compared with conventional ESR, the application of ASMF in this study made the metal molten pool shallower and flatter, resulting in shorter local solidification time and uniform distribution of solute atoms, which alleviated the element segregation degree, and further inhibited the formation of primary carbides. The magnetic-controlled electroslag remelting (MC-ESR) process not only refined the dendrite structure (tended to grow parallel to the ingot axis) and the carbides, but also improved the inclusion removal efficiency and mechanical properties of H13 ESR ingots.

Morphology tailoring of metal pool and eutectic carbides in magnetic-controlled electroslag remelted M2 high-speed steel

A transverse static magnetic field (TSMF) was superimposed during electroslag remelting (ESR) process to regulate the shape of metal pool, the eutectic carbides morphology as well as the mechanical properties of electroslag remelted M2 high-speed steel (HSS) in current study. The metal pool became shallower and flatter after applying a 65 mT TSMF. Moreover, refined eutectic carbides and solidification structure (tended to grow axial) of the ESR ingot were obtained, together with uniform/improved mechanical properties (hardness, wear). Modifications of the morphology of metal pool and grain growth angle under the TSMF were attributed to a periodic electromagnetic excitation effect on droplets transition characteristics, which changed the drop path of the droplets (single to multiple drop) and homogenized the temperature distribution in metal pool. In addition, local solidification time (LST) became shorter and the number of inclusions ((Ti, V)N–Al2O3 and (Ti, V)N) which acted as heterogeneous nuclei for eutectic carbides formation increased (the inclusions also became finer) due to TSMF, resulting in the refinement of the eutectic carbides in ESR ingots.

Strengthening Effect of Multiscale Second Phases in Reduced Activation Ferrite/Martensitic Steel

Reduced activation ferrite/martensitic steels containing yttrium (Y), titanium (Ti), and zirconia (Zr) are melted using vacuum induction melting–electroslag remelting (ESR) to study the effects of second phases on the microstructure, tensile properties, and impact toughness of the alloys. In addition, two heat treatment processes are used to obtain the dispersed distribution of fine M23C6 carbides in reduced activation steel. The results show that ESR not only refined micron inclusions but also increase the number of submicron inclusions in the alloys. The number of submicron inclusions per unit volume of the ESR ingots is 1.11–1.43 × 1019 m−3. These inclusions not only reduced the austenite grain size through pinning but also effectively pinned dislocations to improve the mechanical properties of the steel. MX carbonitrides rather than M23C6 precipitated first in the steel with A–A–T heat treatment at 920 °C, decreasing the mean size of M23C6. The refined grain size, martensitic laths, and M23C6 are beneficial to the mechanical properties of the alloys. The yield strengths of the E–Y–Ti and E–Y–Zr alloys are 659 and 657 MPa, and their ductile–brittle transition temperatures are −93 and −86 °C, respectively.

Study on the Melting Temperature of CaF2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-TiO2 Slag under the Condition of a Fixed Ratio of Titanium and Aluminum in the Steel during the Electroslag Remelting Process.

During the process of electroslag remelting (ESR) of steel containing titanium and aluminum, the activity ratio between titania and alumina in CaF2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-TiO2 slag must be fixed in order to guarantee the titanium and aluminum contents in the ESR ingots. Under the condition of fixed activity ratio between titania and alumina in the slag, the melting temperature of slag should be investigated to improve the surface quality of ESR ingots. Therefore, this paper focuses on finding a kind of slag with low melting temperature that can be used for producing steel containing titanium. In the current study, the thermodynamic equilibrium of 3[Ti] + 2(Al2O3) = 4[Al] + 3(TiO2) between SUS321 steel and the two slag systems (CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:25:(25 − x):x and CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:(25 − 0.5 x):(25 − 0.5 x):x) are studied in an electrical resistance furnace based on Factsage software. After obtaining the equilibrium slag with fixed activity ratio between titania and alumina, the melting temperatures of the two slag systems are studied using slag melting experimental measurements and phase diagrams. The results show that the slag systems CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:25:(25 − x):x, which consists of pre-melted slag S0 (CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3 = 46:4:25:25) and pre-melted slag F1 (CaF2:MgO:CaO:TiO2 = 46:4:25:25), can not only control the aluminum and titanium contents in steel, but also have the desired low melting temperature property.

Impact of Solidification on Inclusion Morphology in ESR and PESR Remelted Martensitic Stainless Steel Ingots

This study focuses on the impact of solidification on the inclusion morphologies in different sizes of production-scale electro-slag remelting (ESR) and electro-slag remelting under a protected pressure-controlled atmosphere, (PESR), ingots, in a common martensitic stainless steel grade. The investigation has been carried out to increase the knowledge of the solidification and change in inclusion morphologies during ESR and PESR remelting. In order to optimize process routes for different steel grades, it is important to define the advantages of different processes. A comparison is made between an electrode, ESR, and PESR ingots with different production-scale ingot sizes, from 400 mm square to 1050 mm in diameter. The electrode and two of the smallest ingots are from the same electrode charge. The samples are taken from both the electrode, ingots, and rolled/forged material. The solidification structure, dendrite arm spacing, chemical analyzes, and inclusion number on ingots and/or forged/rolled material are studied. The results show that the larger the ingot and the further towards the center of the ingot, the larger inclusions are found. As long as an ingot solidifies with a columnar dendritic structure (DS), the increase in inclusion number and size with ingot diameter is approximately linear. However, at the ingot size (1050 mm in diameter in this study) when the center of the ingot converts to solidification in the equiaxial mode (EQ), the increase in number and size of the inclusions is much higher. The transition between a dendritic and an equiaxial solidification in the center of the ingots in this steel grade takes place in the region between the ingot diameters of 800 and 1050 mm.

Characteristics and Formation Tendency of Freckle Segregation in Electroslag Remelted Bearing Steel

Undesirable macro segregation defects, freckles, restrict the commercial production of large-sized electroslag remelting (ESR) bearing steel ingots through degradation of the mechanical properties and service lifetime. In order to clarify the freckle characteristics and formation tendency as well as the formation mechanism, freckles from an industrial large-sized GCr15SiMn ESR ingot were investigated through structural and compositional analysis, along with simulation calculation. The results show that freckles consist of (Si, Mn, Cr)-enriched equiaxed grains and occur in about the 1/2 radius region at the middle-upper part of the ESR ingot, where the secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS) and solidification front angle are large but cooling rate is small. The absolute value of relative Rayleigh number, Ra, also reaches its maximum in the 1/2 radius region, with a liquid fraction of 0.3–0.5, corresponding to the region where freckles form. Based on the experimental and simulation results, to evaluate the freckle formation in industrial-scale GCr15SiMn ESR ingots, the threshold value of relative Ra, a freckle criterion considering the compositional and thermal effects, was determined to be about −0.023.

Freckle formation and prevention in high strength low alloy steel ingots

Freckles considerably limit the development of larger electro-slag remelting (ESR) ingots. To simulate the freckling conditions in ESR ingots, high-strength low alloy (HSLA) steel was solidified with varying solidification front angles. Note that the freckling potential is enhanced and the orientation of freckle channel tends to be in the vertical direction with increase in solidification front angle. This is because the tilted solidification front contributes the available buoyancy and transports light (Si, Mn, Cr)-enriched liquid flows upwards toward the mush zone and then accumulates in the open segregation channel. For freckle formation in experimental HSLA steel ingots, a modified Rayleigh number (Ra) that considers the anisotropy of permeability and solidification front angle was evaluated and a threshold value ofRathat separates the freckled and freckle-free area was determined to be 0.79.

Effects of Remelting Current on Structure, Composition, Microsegregation, and Inclusions in Inconel 718 Electroslag Remelting Ingots

The macro- and microstructures, chemical compositions, microsegregations, and nonmetallic inclusion characteristics at different positions of the as-cast IN718 ingots produced by a laboratory-scale electroslag remelting (ESR) furnace under four remelting currents (150, 200, 250, and 300 A) were compared and investigated comprehensively. The results indicate that the average melting rate increases with the increasing remelting current, and the molten pool tends to be deeper. Thus, at the same position of the ESR ingots, the volume fraction of the segregated phase, the degree of elemental segregation, and the secondary dendrite arm spacing have the same tendency to increase with the increasing remelting current and show an increasing trend from the bottom to the top along the height of each ingot. If the current is set relatively low, the oxygen and nitrogen levels in the ingots increase, the conditions that make the contents and distributions of Al and Ti become unstable. In addition, the major nonmetallic inclusions in the IN718 ESR ingots are MgO·Al2O3 complex oxide inclusions with a three-layer structure and (Nb,Ti)N nitrides. The volume fractions and mean equivalent diameters display a downward trend with the increasing remelting current. The size and quantity of these inclusions are always larger in the upper portions of the ingots than those in the lower portions.

New Possibilities of ESR for Modern Machine Engineering

Electro-slag re-melting (ESR) is a process that combines all important elements of steel melting conversion. JSC “RPA “CNIITMASH” continuously developed ways to use ESR to manufacture critically important parts for power engineering, including nuclear power engineering, heavy-duty machine engineering and other machine building industries. Enhanced performance of product is an important competitive advantage that ESR provides in comparison to other metallurgical processes. Present report reflects results of the latest research work aimed at resolving issues related to control and management of refining and crystallization processes, cost reduction for ESR products. Practical relevance of developed approach to control of ESR metal quality is revealed by data of achieved parameters which characterize properties of pipes and pipeline elements in energy and nuclear power industries which rely on ESR ingots as work-piece blanks.

Mass Transfer Model of Desulfurization in the Electroslag Remelting Process

Experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out to investigate the effects of the slag on desulfurization during the electroslag remelting (ESR) process with a focus of developing a mass transfer model to understand the mechanism of desulfurization. Stainless steel 1Cr21Ni5Ti was used as the electrode and remelted with two different kinds of slags using a 50-kg ESR furnace. The contents of sulfur along the axial direction of product ingots were analyzed. It was found that the sulfur content of 350 ppm in the electrode is reduced to 71 to 95 ppm in the ingot by remelting with the slag containing 5 wt pct of CaO, and lowered more to 47 to 59 ppm with another slag having 20 wt pct CaO. On the basis of the penetration and film theories, the theoretical model developed in this work well elucidates the kinetics of desulfurization revealing the mechanism of sulfur transfer during the ESR process. The calculation results obtained from the model agree well with the experimental results. The model indicates that when sulfur content in electrode is given, there is a corresponding minimum value of sulfur content in the ingot due to the kinetics limit. This lowest sulfur content cannot be further reduced even with increasing L S (sulfur distribution coefficient between metal and slag phases) or decreasing sulfur content in the slag. Constant addition of extra amount of CaO to the molten slag with the increase of sulfur content in the slag during the remelting process can improve the macrosegregation of sulfur distributed along the axial direction of ESR ingots. Since the rate-determining steps of the sulfur mass transfer lie in the metal phase, adding calcium as deoxidizer can change mass transfer of sulfur and thus promote desulfurization further during the ESR process.

Effect of ultrasonic power introduced by a mold copper plate on the solidification process

An electroslag furnace with ultrasonic vibration introduced by a mold copper plate was designed. The effects of ultrasonic power on the element distribution and compactness in electroslag remelting (ESR) ingots were studied, and the mechanism of ultrasonic assistance was analyzed in cold experiments. In the results, silicon, manganese and chromium are uniformly distributed at an ultrasonic power of 300–750 W. The absence of ultrasonic or higher ultrasonic power is not conducive to the uniformity of alloying elements. Carbon demonstrates a highly uneven distribution at 300 W, gradually reaches the uniform distribution as the ultrasonic power further increases, and shows the poor distribution at 1000 W. The compactness of ESR ingots gradually increases with increasing ultrasonic power and reaches the uniform distribution at 500 W. A further increase in ultrasonic power does not improve the compactness. Introducing ultrasonic vibrations by a mold copper plate can improve the solidification quality; however, an appropriate ultrasonic power level should be determined.

Effect of Noncontact Ultrasonic Technology on Solidification Quality of Electroslag Steel

A new electroslag furnace with ultrasonic vibration introduced through water-cooled base plate was designed and the effects of ultrasonic power on the distribution of elements, compactness and carbides in the electroslag remelting (ESR) ingots was investigated. The results showed that the distribution of elements on the entire excitation section changed with the change of ultrasonic power under experimental conditions. The statistical segregation of elements was minimum when the ultrasonic power was 500 W, whereas excessively high or excessively low power was not conducive to the uniform distribution of elements. Meanwhile, the compactness of ESR ingots gradually increased with the increase in ultrasonic power and distribution of compactness was the most uniform when ultrasonic power reached 500 W. Further increase in the ultrasonic power was not conducive to the improvement of compactness. The distribution characteristic of carbides was similar to the distribution of elements and compactness. The results indicated that the ultrasonic vibration introduced through water-cooled base plate was advantageous in improving solidification quality. However, this method needed reasonable ultrasonic power. Moreover, the effects of ultrasonic power varied for different elements.

Effect of Slag on Titanium, Silicon, and Aluminum Contents in Superalloy During Electroslag Remelting

Many factors influence the chemical composition in electroslag remelting (ESR) steel, including atmosphere in crucible, melting rate, slag composition, deoxidation, and so on. Fluoride-based slag, which is exposed to liquid metal directly, influences the chemical composition of ESR ingots to a large extent. The present paper focuses on the effect of slag on the titanium, silicon, and aluminum contents in ingots based on the interaction of the slag and metal. In present work, superalloy of GH8825 and several slags containing different CaO contents have been employed for investigating the effect of slag on titanium, silicon, and aluminum contents in an electrical resistance furnace under argon atmosphere. Results indicate that the higher CaO content in slag has better capacity for avoiding loss of titanium caused by the reaction of titanium with silica in slag, especially in case of remelting superalloy with high titanium and low silicon content. The CaO has a great effect on the activities of TiO2, SiO2, and Al2O3. Thermodynamic analysis is applied to investigate the CaO behavior. Based on the ion and molecule coexistence theory of slag, activity model is established to calculate the activities of components containing titanium, silicon, and aluminum elements in a six-component slag consisting of CaO-CaF2-Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2-MgO. The components containing titanium, silicon, and aluminum in slag are mainly CaO·TiO2, 2CaO·SiO2, CaO·SiO2, CaO·Al2O3, and MgO·Al2O3. With the increase of CaO mass fraction in slag, the activity coefficient of SiO2 decreases significantly, whereas slightly change happens for Al2O3. As a result, the \( \lg ({{\gamma_{{{\text{SiO}}_{2} }} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\gamma_{{{\text{SiO}}_{2} }} } {\gamma_{{{\text{TiO}}_{2} }} }}} \right. \kern-0pt} {\gamma_{{{\text{TiO}}_{2} }} }}) \) decreases with increasing CaO content, which is better for preventing loss of titanium caused by the reaction of titanium with silica in slag. The slag with high CaO and appropriate TiO2 content is suitable for electroslag remelting of GH8825.

Effect of Ultrasonic Treatment on Solidification Quality of ESR Ingots

Abstract A novel electroslag furnace with the ultrasonic treatment was fabricated in this study. The effect of ultrasonic treatment on the compact density and segregation degree of alloys were studied. Results show that the distribution of carbon, silicon, manganese, chromium and phosphorus become uniform with increase of the ultrasonic power when the ultrasonic power is between 0 and 700 W. But when the ultrasonic power increases to 1,000 W, segregation of alloy elements increases instead. The reasonable ultrasonic power is favorable for improvement of compact density of electroslag remelting (ESR) ingots. When the ultrasonic power increases to 700 W from 0, compact density of ESR ingots increases to 0.9618 from 0.9479 and decreases to 0.9517 when the ultrasonic power increases to 1,000 W. This occurrence is attributed to the cavitation and acoustic flows effect of the ultrasonic which break off the dendritic crystal in the mushy zone and increase crystal nucleus. At the same time, the heat transfer and mass transfer are accelerated which make the distribution of temperature and alloying element more homogeneous. But the excessive ultrasonic power is not conducive to the improvement of solidification structure.

Influence of Master Alloy on the Cleanliness of Spray Formed Superalloy

Three kinds of master alloys, including scrap material, vacuum induction melting (VIM) ingot and electro slag remelting (ESR) ingot, were spray formed into different billets. The influence of master alloy on the cleanliness of spray formed superalloy was investigated by means of electron beam (EB) button melting and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), on the basis of optimized process of spray forming and EB button melting. The results show that the inclusions in spray formed preform are mainly composed of alumina and magnesia, stem from master alloy and some refractory materials in the process of remelting. The cleaner the master alloy, the lower level of inclusion contents of the billet. Among three kinds of master alloys, the ESR ingot exhibit the cleanest melt surface in the process of re-melting and contains much smaller inclusions in EB button. The cleanliness of spray formed billet is better than ingot stack for deposition. Superclean sprayforming billet with smaller size inclusions (<100μm) can be attained by the ESR ingots.

Evaluating tendency of freckle formation for electro-slag remelting 20SiMn2MoV ingots by experiments and simulation

Freckle defects were found in electro-slag remelting (ESR) ingots, which severely limit the development of the larger-diameter ingots. The macrostructure and the composition of the freckles in a low-alloy structure steel ESR ingot were investigated to clarify the freckle formation mechanism. The results shows that the freckles in the ingot were caused by the upward solute-rich liquid flow in the mushy zone, and the composition of the freckles corresponds to that of the liquid, with a liquid fraction of 0.36 to 0.43. The relative Rayleigh number (Ra), a freckle criterion considering the effect of a tilted solidification front, was adopted to evaluate the freckle formation tendency in the industrial-scale ESR ingots based on the results of the experiments, kinetic simulation and thermophysical property calculation. The calculated results of Ra are in good agreement with the actual distribution of the freckles in the ingot.

Investigation of Oxide Inclusions and Primary Carbonitrides in Inconel 718 Superalloy Refined through Electroslag Remelting Process

The effect of remelting atmosphere and calcium treatment during electroslag remelting (ESR) of Inconel 718 superalloy on the oxide inclusions and primary carbonitrides was investigated. The results show that after ESR refining combined with calcium treatment, the original oxide inclusions in the electrode, mainly MgO·Al2O3 spinels and some MgO inclusions, were modified to CaO-Al2O3 system inclusions or the inclusions of MgO·Al2O3 spinel core surrounded by CaO-MgO-Al2O3 system inclusion layer. Without the calcium treatment in ESR process, all the oxide inclusions in superalloy ingots are MgO·Al2O3 spinels. All the oxide inclusions in ESR ingots act as the nucleation site for carbonitride (Nb,Ti)CN with two-layer structure precipitation, except for those with a single (Nb,Ti)CN layer containing a small amount of Ti and N in the ingot refined by a proper amount of calcium addition in ESR process. The carbonitrides (Nb,Ti)CN formed directly on the oxide inclusion have a small amount of Nb and C as well as a relatively fixed atomic ratio of Nb/Ti (about 0.6:1). There is a Nb-rich and C-rich (Nb,Ti)CN layer on the pre-existing (Nb,Ti)CN formed on the oxide inclusion. The size of the observed carbonitrides is in the range of 5 μm to 15 μm. The calcium treatment in the ESR process has a significant effect on the morphology of carbonitrides in superalloy ingot due to modification of oxide inclusions by Ca-treatment resulting in the change of precipitation and growth conditions for carbonitrides. The morphologies of carbonitrides were changed from clustered block or single octahedral to skeleton-like after calcium treatment.

Characteristics of inclusions in high-Al steel during electroslag remelting process

The characteristics of inclusions in high-Al steel refined by electroslag remelting (ESR) were investigated by image analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The results show that the size of almost all the inclusions observed in ESR ingots is less than 5 μm. Inclusions smaller than 3 μm take nearly 75% of the total inclusions observed in each ingot. Inclusions observed in ESR ingots are pure AlN as dominating precipitates and some fine spherical Al2O3 inclusions with a size of 1 μm or less. It is also found that protective gas operation and slag deoxidation treatment during ESR process have significant effects on the number of inclusions smaller than 2 μm but little effects on that of inclusions larger than 2 μm. Thermodynamic calculations show that AlN inclusions are unable to precipitate in the liquid metal pool under the present experimental conditions, while the precipitation of AlN inclusions could take place at the solidifying front due to the microsegregation of Al and N in liquid steel during solidification.

Effect of cerium and thermomechanical processing on microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe-10·5Al-0·8C alloy

The effect of cerium content and thermomechanical processing on structure and properties of Fe-10·5 wt.%Al-0·8 wt%C alloy has been investigated. Alloys were prepared by a combination of air induction melting with flux cover (AIMFC) and electroslag remelting (ESR). The ESR ingots were hot-forged and hot-rolled at 1373 K as well as warm-rolled at 923 K and heat-treated. Hot-rolled, warm-rolled and heat treated alloys were examined using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction to understand the microstructure of these alloys. The ternary, Fe-10·5 wt.%Al-0·8 wt.%C alloy showed the presence of two phases; Fe-Al with bcc structure, and large volume fraction of Fe3AlC0·5 precipitates. Addition of cerium to Fe-10·5 wt.%Al-0·8 wt.%C alloy resulted in three phases, the additional phase being small volume fraction of fine cerium oxy-carbide precipitates. Improvement in tensile elongation from 3–6·4% was achieved by increasing the cerium content from 0·01–0·2 wt.% and further improvement in tensile elongation from 6·4–10% was achieved by warm-rolling and heat treatment.