Simulation of the Solidification and Microstructural Evolution in Steel Casting Processes Using the InterDendritic Solidification Tool

Abstract

InterDendritic Solidification (IDS) is a thermodynamic-kinetic software combined with a microstructure tool developed to simulate the nonequilibrium solidification (non-EQS) of steels. Herein, its main calculation module, solidification (SOL), is introduced, and some essential results of that module, such as the formation of ferrite and austenite in different types of steels during their solidification, and the formation and dissolution of precipitates during subsequent cooling and heating processes, respectively, following solidification, are presented. The non-EQS is compared with equilibrium and poor-kinetics solidification to demonstrate the effect of kinetics on the results using finite solute diffusion and microstructure data. The poor-kinetics solidification is comparable with the modified Scheil simulation ignoring the solid-state diffusion of slowly moving metallic elements. A particular emphasis is made on demonstrating how to use a postprocessing treatment to control the residual ferrite amounts in stainless steels and the extent of precipitation in particular steel. In this context, the phenomena occurring behind the results are discussed. Finally, to validate the simulations of the SOL module, its calculations are compared with numerous solidification measurements, such as the liquidus and solidus temperatures of different steels and the residual ferrite amounts in stainless steels.

Cerium Addition Improves Cleanliness and Refines Microstructure of As‐Cast High‐Nitrogen Stainless Bearing Steel

“…It is known that the uneven distribution of coarse precipitates along the interdendritic regions is due to the segregation of alloying elements during solidification. [ 69 ] According to the ‘Clyne–Kurz’ model, the segregation of alloying elements is closely related to the secondary dendrite arm spacing. [ 70 ] In view of the high content of Cr in M 2 (C, N) and M 23 (C, N) 6 , ‘Clyne–Kurz’ model was used to investigate the effect of Cr segregation on the characteristics of precipitates, as follows: [ 71 ] …”

“…It is known that the uneven distribution of coarse precipitates along the interdendritic regions is due to the segregation of alloying elements during solidification. [69] According to the 'Clyne-Kurz' model, the segregation of alloying elements is closely related to the secondary dendrite arm spacing. [70] In view of the high content of Cr in M 2 (C, N) and M 23 (C, N) 6 , 'Clyne-Kurz' model was used to investigate the effect of Cr segregation on the characteristics of precipitates, as follows: [71] ½% Cr ¼ ½% Cr 0 ½1 À ð1 À 2Ωk Cr Þf S ðk Cr À1Þ ð1À2Ωk Cr Þ (11) where [% Cr] 0 and [% Cr] are the initial Cr content and the Cr content in the liquid phase at solid-liquid interface during solidification, respectively.…”

Assessing the Effects of Steel Composition on Surface Cracks in Continuous Casting with Solidification Simulations and Phenomenological Quality Criteria for Quality Prediction Applications

“…The main features are summarized here based on refs. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. The simulated phenomena include phase transformations, the formation of different precipitates and inclusions, microsegregation of solutes, grain growth, and the decomposition of austenite.…”

“…The fundamentals, assumptions, and validation of the IDS model are presented in detail in refs. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and are not repeated here.…”

Influence of the adjustable EMBr on the asymmetric flow in a thin slab caster with a misaligned SEN

“…The numerical model was implemented in the OpenFOAM® finite volume method (FVM) framework [29]. The detailed alloy properties calculated using a thermodynamic-kinetic software package IDS [30], casting temperature and pulling velocity are gathered in table 1. The simulation domain overlay is presented in figure 1-a.…”