Chemical and physical heterogeneities and gases in large steel ingot

Abstract

For creation of the high-tech equipment that is used in energy, heavy engineering, chemistry and transport, the unique large-sized steel products are required. In the manufacture of such products, large forging ingots in the mass to 600 tons are used. However, an increase in the mass of the ingots leads to the formation of chemical and physical heterogeneity, enlargement and unfavorable distribution of non-metallic inclusions, of the development of segregation defects in them, which reduce the strength and exploitation characteristics of the metal. In this connection, the quality forgings and finished parts are not always meet the producing demands and the loss of metal, in the form of technological waste and rejects are reaching significant values. It is known that eccentric zonal segregation, especially it’s the most dangerous variety - cords, significantly reduce the quality and properties of products from large steel ingots. In connection with the continuous expansion of the production of large ingots, the problem of creating optimal technologies for their formation, which reduce or exclude the possibility of the formation of chemical heterogeneity and cords in steel during crystallization, it is currently important and relevant. In this paper it are presented the results of studies of the structure, gas distribution, physical and chemical heterogeneities in the cross section and height of an ingot in the mass of 140 tons, which was casted in vacuum from steel 25KHN3MFA. It is shown that depending on the temperature and time conditions of ingot hardening, among which the crystallization interval (due to the chemical composition of steels), cooling intensity in different volumes in height and cross section of ingot, temperature gradient before the crystallization front, solubility of alloying elements and gas content in the melt, etc. Based on this, when developing technology for large ingots to ensure their quality, optimal structure and properties should take into account not only their dimensions, but also the combination of these thermokinetic parameters on the crystallization process, dendritic structure formation, manifestations of liquation in different ingot volumes. Keywords: ingot, segregation strip and inclusions, dendrites, structure, oxygen, oxides, sulfides.