Effects of Basicity and B2O3 on the Crystallization and Heat Transfer Behaviors of Low Fluorine Mold Flux for Casting Medium Carbon Steels

An investigation was carried out to study the effects of basicity (CaO/Si₂O) and B₂O₃ on the crystallization and heat transfer behaviors of low fluorine mold flux for casting medium carbon steels. The double hot thermocouple technique (DHTT) was employed to study the crystallization behavior of mold flux with a different basicity and B₂O₃ content, under the simulated thermal gradient as in a real caster. The infrared emitter technique (IET) was also applied for the study of heat transfer behavior of the above mold fluxes. By combining the results of IET and DHTT, this article indicated that the increase of basicity would decrease the general heat transfer rate of mold flux, as it tends to promote crystallization of mold flux apparently, while B₂O₃ has the opposite function. The combined effects of basicity and B₂O₃ could be used to adjust the general crystallization and heat transfer properties of low fluorine mold flux for casting medium carbon steels, which would provide an instructive way for the design of Fluorine free mold flux for casting medium carbon steels.     

Effect of Carbon Properties on Melting Behavior of Mold Fluxes for Continuous Casting of Steels

Mold fluxes are synthetic slags used to coverthe liquid steel meniscus during continuous castingof steel.The flux,whichis continuously fed on thesurface of liquid pool during casting,melts first andthenflowsintothe gap between mold wall and solid-ified steel shell.It is well known that the perform-ance of the flux can greatly affect both the castingoperation and product quality.Because of its i mpor-tance,intensiveinvestigations have been performed,and considerable progress has been made[1-6].…     

Non-isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Mold Fluxes for Casting High-Aluminum Steels

This paper investigates the crystallization behavior of CaO-SiO₂- and CaO-Al₂O₃-based mold fluxes for casting high-aluminum steels using single hot thermocouple technology, developed kinetic models, and scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the crystallization ability of the typical CaO-SiO₂-based Flux A (CaO/SiO₂ 0.62, Al₂O₃ 2 mass pct) is weaker than that of CaO-Al₂O₃-based Flux B (CaO/SiO₂ 4.11, Al₂O₃ 31.9 mass pct) because of its higher initial crystallization temperature. The crystallization kinetics of Flux A was “surface nucleation and growth, interface reaction control” in the overall non-isothermal crystallization process, whereas that of Flux B was “constant nucleation rate, 1-dimensional growth, diffusion control, in the primary crystallization stage, and then transformed into constant nucleation rate, 3-dimensional growth, interface reaction control in the secondary crystallization stage.” The energy dispersive spectroscopy results for Flux B suggested that the variations in the crystallization kinetics for Flux B are due to different crystals precipitating in the primary (BaCa₂Al₈O₁₅) and secondary (CaAl₂O₄) crystallization periods during the non-isothermal crystallization process.     

Effects of B2O3 on Crystallization,Structure, and Heat Transfer of CaO-Al2O3-Based Mold Fluxes

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The reaction between traditional CaO-SiO2-based mold fluxes and high-Al steel inevitably changes flux composition, and, consequently, flux properties....     

Crystallization Characteristics of CaO-Al2O3-Based Mold Flux and Their Effects on In-Mold Performance during High-Aluminum TRIP Steels Continuous Casting

Crystallization behaviors of the newly developed lime-alumina-based mold fluxes for high-aluminum transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steels casting were experimentally studied, and compared with those of lime-silica-based mold fluxes. The effects of mold flux crystallization characteristics on heat transfer and lubrication performance in casting high-Al TRIP steels were also evaluated. The results show that the crystallization temperatures of lime-alumina-based mold fluxes are much lower than those of lime-silica-based mold fluxes. Increasing B₂O₃ addition suppresses the crystallization of lime-alumina-based mold fluxes, while Na₂O exhibits an opposite effect. In continuous cooling of lime-alumina-based mold fluxes with high B₂O₃ contents and a CaO/Al₂O₃ ratio of 3.3, faceted cuspidine precipitates first, followed by needle-like CaO·B₂O₃ or 9CaO·3B₂O₃·CaF₂. In lime-alumina-based mold flux with low B₂O₃ content (5.4 mass pct) and a CaO/Al₂O₃ ratio of 1.2, the formation of fine CaF₂ takes place first, followed by blocky interconnected CaO·2Al₂O₃ as the dominant crystalline phase, and rod-like 2CaO·B₂O₃ precipitates at lower temperature during continuous cooling of the mold flux. In B₂O₃-free mold flux, blocky interconnected 3CaO·Al₂O₃ precipitates after CaF₂ and 3CaO·2SiO₂ formation, and takes up almost the whole crystalline fraction. The casting trials show that the mold heat transfer rate significantly decreases near the meniscus during the continuous casting using lime-alumina-mold fluxes with higher crystallinity, which brings a great reduction of surface depressions on cast slabs. However, excessive crystallinity of mold flux causes poor lubrication between mold and solidifying steel shell, which induces various defects such as drag marks on cast slab. Among the studied mold fluxes, lime-alumina-based mold fluxes with higher B₂O₃ contents and a CaO/Al₂O₃ ratio of 3.3 show comparatively improved performance.     

Heat-Transfer Behavior of Mold Fluxes for Continuous Casting of Invar Alloy

The heat-transfer behavior across mold fluxes for Invar alloy Fe-36Ni would introduce significant influence on the slab surface quality. A study on the heat-transfer property of mold flux film for Invar alloy Fe-36Ni was carried out by an interaction between laboratory simulation and field trial. The study results indicate that great effect on heat transfer across flux film is caused by chemical compositions of mold fluxes. An increase of basicity and CaF₂ content suppresses heat transfer across flux film; heat transfer across flux film increases when the Al₂O₃ content increases from 4 pct to 8 pct but decreases when Al₂O₃ content is above 8 pct. The crystalline phases of both the conventional mold fluxes and the improved mold fluxes are all cuspidine phases. However, crystallization capability of the improved mold fluxes decreases as the result of the increase of basicity and CaF₂ content as well as the decrease of Al₂O₃ content. The average thickness of flux film taken from mold is about 1.6 mm, and the crystalline fraction is only 21.4 pct. All these promote heat transfer across the flux film. The field trial of the improved mold fluxes shows that the properties of liquid slag are steady during continuous casting; comprehensive heat transfer across flux film meets the needs of continuous casting of Fe-36Ni. Border solidification structures of solidified shell are refined remarkably, and hot cracking gets avoidance eventually.     

Crystallization Behaviors of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-Na2O-CaF2-(Li2O-B2O3) Mold Fluxes

The effects of basicity (CaO/SiO₂), B₂O₃, and Li₂O addition on the crystallization behaviors of lime-silica-based mold fluxes have been investigated by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and single hot thermocouple technique. It was found that the crystallization temperature of cuspidine increased with increasing the basicity of mold fluxes. The crystallization of wollastonite was suppressed with increasing the mold flux basicity due to the enhancement of cuspidine crystallization. The addition of B₂O₃ suppresses the crystallization of mold flux. The crystallization temperature of mold flux decreases with Li₂O addition. The size of cuspidine increases, while the number of cuspidine decreases with increasing mold flux basicity. The morphology of cuspidine in mold fluxes with lower basicity is largely dendritic. The dendritic cuspidine in mold fluxes is composed of many fine cuspidine crystals. On the contrary, in mold fluxes with higher basicity, the cuspidine crystals are larger in size with mainly faceted morphology. The crystalline phase evolution was also calculated using a thermodynamic database, and compared with the experimental results determined by DSC and XRD. The results of thermodynamic calculation of crystalline phase formation are in accordance with the results determined by DSC and XRD.     

Development of Non-reactive F-Free Mold Fluxes for High Aluminum Steels: Non-isothermal Crystallization Kinetics for Devitrification

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - It is necessary to study crystallization from glass (devitrification) for non-reactive F-free CaO-Al2O3 based mold fluxes; this is especially important...     

Analysis of the Kinetics of Devitrification and Crystallization of a Melilite Mold Powder Slag for Medium Carbon Steel Billet Casting

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - High-speed continuous casting of steel billets entails considerable turbulence in the liquid core, which results in significant slag entrapment unless...     

Effects of Fluorine on Solidification,Viscosity, Structure,and Heat Transfer of CaO-Al2O3-Based Mold Fluxes

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - To mitigate the chemical reaction between mold fluxes and high-Al steel, CaO-Al2O3-based mold fluxes were proposed to replace the conventional...     

Effect of MgO on Crystallization and Heat Transfer of Fluoride-Free Mold Fluxes

The effect of MgO on crystallization and heat transfer of fluoride-free mold fluxes was studied using single/double-hot thermocouple technique (SHTT/DHTT) and infrared emitter technique (IET), respectively. SHTT experiments demonstrated that the increase of MgO concentration promoted the crystallization tendency of mold fluxes. XRD analysis showed that the dominant phases changed from CaSiO₃ to CaSiO₃/Ca₂MgSi₂O₇/Ca₁₁Si₄B₂O₂₂, and to Ca₂MgSi₂O₇ as the MgO content was increased. The heat flux across mold flux disks was reduced from 671 to 615 kW/m² in IET experiments when MgO concentration was increased from 0.9 to 4.9 mass pct.     

Stability of Fluorine-Free CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-B2O3-Na2O Mold Fluxes

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - B2O3 and Na2O are key components of fluorine-free mold fluxes for continuous casting, but both are highly volatile, which affects the flux stability....     

A Kinetic Study of the Effect of Basicity on the Mold Fluxes Crystallization

The effect of basicity on the mold fluxes crystallization was investigated in this article. The time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams and continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) diagrams of mold fluxes with different basicity were constructed by using single, hot thermocouple technology (SHTT). The results showed that with the increase of basicity, the incubation time of isothermal crystallization became shorter, the crystallization temperature was getting higher, and the critical cooling rate of continuous cooling crystallization became faster. The X-ray diffraction analysis suggested that calcium silicate (CaO·SiO₂) was precipitated at the upper part of the TTT diagram and cuspidine (Ca₄Si₂O₇F₂) was formed at the lower part, when the basicity of mold fluxes was within 1.0 to 1.2. However, when basicity was 0.8, only the cuspidine phase was formed. A kinetic study of isothermal crystallization process indicated that the increase of the basicity tended to enhance the mold flux crystallization, and the crystallization activation energy became smaller. The crystallization mechanism of cupsidine was changing from one-dimensional growth to three-dimensional growth with a constant number of nuclei, when the basicity of mold fluxes varied from 0.8 to 1.2.     

Crystallization Kinetics and Structure of Mold Fluxes with SiO2 Being Substituted by TiO2 for Casting of Titanium-Stabilized Stainless Steel

Crystallization kinetics and the structure of mold fluxes with SiO₂ being substituted by 0, 5, and 10 pct TiO₂ were studied by differential thermal analysis technique and Raman spectroscopy, respectively, to explore the effect of TiO₂ on the crystallization behavior of the slag. Crystallization kinetics analysis shows that the activation energy for crystal growth increases with the increase of TiO₂ substitution, implying that TiO₂ substitution for SiO₂ in mold fluxes produces negative effects on crystal growth and retards the crystallization process. Raman spectral study indicates that TiO₂ enters the system mainly in the form of [TiO₄] in monomer structure unit, and simultaneously, there appear relatively small amounts of [TiO₆] structure unit. The introduction of TiO₂ leads to a decrease of the dimer and chain Si-O-Si structure unit (Q¹ and Q²).     

Effects of CaO/SiO2 Ratio and Na2O Content on Melting Properties and Viscosity of SiO2-CaO-Al2O3-B2O3-Na2O Mold Fluxes

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - This paper investigated the effects of CaO/SiO2 ratio (0.8 to 1.5) and Na2O concentration (6 to 9 wt pct) on melting properties and viscosity...