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Three-Dimensional Characterization of Defects in Continuous Casting Blooms of Heavy Rail Steel Using X-ray Computed Tomography

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Abstract

Three-dimensional characterization of defects in continuous casting blooms of a heavy rail steel with different electromagnetic stirring intensities at the solidification end, also named final electromagnetic stirring, was performed employing a laboratory-based X-ray computed tomography to evaluate the effect of final electromagnetic stirring on the internal quality of blooms. The three-dimensional distribution and morphology of defects including porosities and oxide inclusions in blooms were characterized. The amount, size and shape complexity of defects increased gradually from the loose-side surface to the center of blooms. The total volume fraction of defects was 5265 and 3942 ppm when the current of final electromagnetic stirring was 200 and 300 A, respectively. The sphericity of defects varied from 0.1 to 0.75, and the equivalent spherical diameter varied between 20 and 450 μm. Most defects with a sphericity > 0.6 were nearly spherical and were assumed to be oxide inclusions. The volume fraction of both porosities and inclusions was small in the chilled layer and the columnar crystal zone and then increased rapidly toward the equiaxed zone. Increasing the current of F-EMS from 200 to 300 A significantly decreased the volume fraction of porosities in the center of the bloom from 2906 to 1873 ppm. It could also decrease the volume fraction and average diameter of oxide inclusions in the bloom by reducing the number of large inclusions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51874031, U1860206, 51725402), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. FRF-BD-20-04A), the S&T Program of Hebei (Grant Nos. 20311004D, 20311005D, 20311006D, 20591001D), the High Steel Center (HSC), Hebei Innovation Center of the Development and Application of High Quality Steel Materials, Hebei International Research Center of Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing of High Quality Steel Materials at Yanshan University, and Beijing International Center of Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing of High Quality Steel Materials (ICSM) at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Lingxiao Cui, Xunhui Lei, Yuexin Zhang, Wen Yang, Yuan Gao, Yubao Liu & Nan Liu

  2. State Key Lab of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China

    Lifeng Zhang

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  1. Lingxiao Cui
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  2. Xunhui Lei
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Correspondence to Lifeng Zhang or Wen Yang.

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Manuscript submitted 11 January 2021; accepted 2 April 2021.

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Cui, L., Lei, X., Zhang, L. et al. Three-Dimensional Characterization of Defects in Continuous Casting Blooms of Heavy Rail Steel Using X-ray Computed Tomography. Metall Mater Trans B 52, 2327–2340 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-021-02172-z

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