Different Roles of Microalloying in Thin Slab Direct Rolling Technologies

HSLA steels constitute one of the main types of steels produced worldwide by Thin Slab Direct Rolling technologies (TSDR).Among microalloying elements,the most widely used are V,Nb and Ti.These elements play different roles during the austenite evolution in TSDR.Regarding austenite conditioning before transformation,the limitations in the total reduction that can be applied in TSDR technologies need to be considered when composition/process parameters are selected.In this context,whereas an important number of studies have been focused on Nb microalloyed grades,a less systematic analysis has been performed concerning the role of vanadium on austenite conditioning.This paper analyzes these singularities taking into account different process parameter conditions,such as total reduction and initial rolling temperature.

Influence of rolling directions on microstructure,mechanical properties and anisotropy of Mg-5Li-1Al-0.5Y alloy

Mg-5Li-1Al-0.5Y alloy was rolled with different directions.The microstructure,mechanical properties and texture of the specimens were investigated with optical microscope,tensile tester and X-ray diffraction.The results show that changing rolling directions can refine the grain size of as-rolled alloys.Meanwhile,rolling directions have an obvious influence on the mechanical properties and texture of Mg-5Li-1Al-0.5Y alloy,thus affecting the anisotropy of the alloy.The sheet,of which the RD(rolling direction)and ND(normal direction)are both changed between two passes,possesses the smallest anisotropy.From the texture results,changing rolling directions reduces the maximum pole density,making the highest point distribution region excursion and the highest point distributes more scatteredly.

DANIELI concepts and experiences in thin slab casting and rolling technology for HRC production—the evolution of a winning process route to face increasing market requirements

The direct rolling process for hot strip production,where the thin slab caster is connected directly to the mill,has gained market share rapidly because of its remarkable advantages in terms of energy savings and investment cost over the conventional hot strip mills. However,the unquestionable advantages of the first-generation applications of this plant concept also entail significant limitations both in productivity and steel grades that can be produced. Since his first pioneering applications,Danieli considered strategic the development of new technical solutions specifically conceived to overcome these limitations with the goal of increasing plant production volumes and enlarging steel grade product mix,in order to cover the gap between "Conventional mill" and "Thin slab casting and rolling" process routes. In order to reach this goal,Danieli has developed a complete portfolio of plant lay outs adopting Thin Slab Casting and Rolling technologies,each of them conceived to guarantee the optimal CAPEX and OPEX parameters in fitting with market requirements our Customer intend to target.in terms of productivity,steel grades and coil dimension product mix. Danieli TSR(Thin Slab Rolling) fTSR(flexible Thins Slab Rolling) QSP(Quality Strip Production) and ETR(Extra Thin Rolling) plant configurations are analyzed in this paper. With this diversified approach,Danieli solutions are most appropriate answers to thin slab casting and rolling to produce hot rolled coils with superior quality and an extremely diversified range of steel grades. Already,this approach has allowed Danieli plants to:①exceed the threshold production of 3.0 Mt/a with 2 casting strands in operation as done in Tangshan Iron and Steel plant in P.R.China since 2005;②expand the product mix to include virtually all the steel grades used for flat product applications,including the most demanding ones,such as peritectic(in Essar Algoma Canada and Benxi Iron and Steel,China),micro-alloyed,and silicon steels,for the most sophisticated applications,such as automotive and pipe manufacturing,including Arctic applications,(as done in OMK plant in Russia);③extend the range of final strip thicknesses to include ultra thin gauges,down to 0.8 mm(as in Ezz Flat Steel,in Egypt).

Technological investigation on the Short Stroke Width Control Rolling in the Rougher Mills of Hot Strip Continuous Rolling Mill Train

According to technological requirement of hot charge rolling and hot direct rolling,in this paper,we investigated the technology of the width control rolling in the rougher mills of hot strip continuous rolling mill train.On the basis of improving width range of continuous casting of slab,we obtained a good result of greatly increasing the yield of slab→coil is achieved.

Effects of Ti addition on low carbon hot strips produced by CSP process

Large quantity of fine Ti（C,N） particles, 15-30 nm in size, were observed in low carbon hot strips added to a small amount of Ti and produced by CSP process. The results showed that the precipitation of Ti（C,N） mostly took place during soaking and hot rolling, which is significantly different from that in the conventional production. These fine Ti carbonitride particles could be very effective on the austenite grain refinement by hindering grain growth of recrystallized austenite. Their precipitation behavior was discussed and compared with that of the steels produced in the conventional production.

Ultra-fine ferrite grains obtained in the TSDR process

By careful design of rolling schedule,ultra-fine （～2μm） ferrite grains in a low carbon high niobium （0.09wt%Nb） microalloying steel with average austenite grain sizes above 800 μm can be achieved in the simulated thin slab direct rolling process. The 5-pass deformation was divided into two stages： the refinement of austenite through complete recrystallization and the refinement of ferrite through dynamic strain-induced transformation. The effects of Nb in solution and strain-induced NbCN precipitates on the ferrite transformation were also extensively discussed.

Robust multi-objective optimization of rolling schedule for tandem cold rolling based on evolutionary direction differential evolution algorithm

According to the actual requirements,profile and rolling energy consumption are selected as objective functions of rolling schedule optimization for tandem cold rolling.Because of mechanical wear,roll diameter has some uncertainty during the rolling process,ignoring which will cause poor robustness of rolling schedule.In order to solve this problem,a robust multi-objective optimization model of rolling schedule for tandem cold rolling was established.A differential evolution algorithm based on the evolutionary direction was proposed.The algorithm calculated the horizontal angle of the vector,which was used to choose mutation vector.The chosen vector contained converging direction and it changed the random mutation operation in differential evolution algorithm.Efficiency of the proposed algorithm was verified by two benchmarks.Meanwhile,in order to ensure that delivery thicknesses have descending order like actual rolling schedule during evolution,a modified Latin Hypercube Sampling process was proposed.Finally,the proposed algorithm was applied to the model above.Results showed that profile was improved and rolling energy consumption was reduced compared with the actual rolling schedule.Meanwhile,robustness of solutions was ensured.

Effect of processing parameters on the electromagnetic radiation emission during plastic deformation and crack propagation in copper-zinc alloys

This paper presents some investigations on the effect of processing parameters on the emission of electromagnetic radiation （EMR） during plastic deformation and crack propagation in copper-zinc alloys. Timing of the EMR emissions, maximum stress during crack instability, stress-intensity factor, elastic strain energy release rate, maximum EMR amplitude, RMS value of EMR amplitude, EMR frequency and electromagnetic energy release rate were analysed for the effect of rolling directions at different percentage of zinc content in Cu-Zn alloy specimens. The same parameters were also analysed for 68-32 Cu-Zn alloy specimens at different annealing temperatures and at different angles 0, to the rolling direction. EMR emissions are observed to be highly anisotropic in nature. At θ=45° to 60°, marked changes in mechanical and electromagnetic parameters were observed. Specimens annealed at 500℃, just above the recrystallization temperature, and at 700℃, when grain-size growth is rapid, EMR responses have been found to have well-defined patterns.

Application of the DHCR technology in Ningbo Steel

This paper presented the application of the direct hot charge rolling （DHCR） technology in Ningbo Steel. Five aspects have been systematically addressed and analyzed, which include sales order, production schedule programming, steelmaking,continuous casting and hot-rolling. The average DHCR product rate has reached 55% and the average slab charging temperature 699℃. As a result, the production cost, the energy consumption and the CO2emission have been significantly reduced. It is concluded that a breakthrough in application of the DHCR technology has been achieved at Ningbo Steel.

Texture of Hot Rolled Strip for Fe-3Si Steel Produced by Thin Slab Casting and Rolling

Fe-3Si steel strip was produced by thin slab casting and rolling （TSCR） process in the laboratory. The microstructure and texture of hot rolled strip by different total reduction and rolling schedules were observed through EBSD technique and X-ray diffraction method. The rule of texture density for the a,ε and γ fibers was analyzed. When the total reduction was increased from 82.9% to 97.1%, the gradient of microstrueture and texture for A steel surface layer and center layer was found, {001}〈110〉 texture had higher intensity, and {001}〈110〉texture was changed to { 110 } 〈 001 〉 and { 112 } 〈 111 〉. The texture distribution with different reduction schedules for B steel was basically similar, but the Goss texture orientation density and volume fraction for B steel were higher, the hot rolling reduction schedule of C1 was effective for the formation of Goss texture. The research work was useful theoretical basis and reference data to develop electrical steel by thin slab continuous casting and direct rolling technology.

Texture of Cold Rolled Strip of Fe-3Si Steel Produced by Thin Slab Casting and Rolling

The hot rolled strip of Fe-3Si steel was experimentally produced by thin slab casting and rolling（TSCR） process in the laboratory.The texture evolution rule was investigated during hot rolling and cold rolling.The texture distribution of cold rolled strips with four kinds of cold rolling reduction schedules was observed through X-ray diffraction method,and the orientation density variation of 1/16 layer,1/8 layer,1/4 layer,and 1/2 layer in thickness was analyzed.The cold rolled texture of steel A with four kinds of cold rolling reduction schedules was mainly composed of α and γ fibers.Cold rolling reduction ratio of 70% was more beneficial for obtaining more γ fibers.The γ fiber texture orientation density of {111}01-1 and {111}1-1-2 was the largest on the 1/8 layer and 1/4 layer and the least on the 1/16 layer and 1/2 layer for steel B.The texture orientation density of {001}-{223}11-0 in the α fibers for steel C was increased,but the texture orientation density of {332}-{110}11-0 was low.