Size distribution of inclusions in 12%Cr stainless steel with a wide range of solidification cooling rates

The effect of solidification cooling rate on the size and distribution of inclusions in 12%Cr stainless steel was investigated. A wide range of solidification cooling rates（from 0.05 to 106 K·s^-1） was achieved using various solidification processes, including conventional casting, laser remelting, and melt spinning. The size and distribution of inclusions in the steel were observed and statistically collected. For comparison, mathematical models were used to calculate the sizes of inclusions at different solidification cooling rates. Both the statistical size determined from observations and that predicted from calculations tended to decrease with increasing cooling rate; however, the experimental and calculated results did not agree well with each other at excessively high or low cooling rate. The reasons for this discrepancy were theoretically analyzed. For the size distribution of inclusions, the effect of cooling rate on the number densities of large-sized（〉 2 μm） inclusions and small-sized（≤ 2 μm） inclusions were distinct. The number density of inclusions larger than 1 μm was not affected when the cooing rate was less than or equal to 6 K·s^-1 because inclusion precipitation was suppressed by the increased cooling rate.

Optimizing Domain Distribution of Grain Oriented Silicon Steel by Using Antimony as the Laser Surface Alloying Element

For reducing the core loss of grain oriented silicon steel and improving its aging property, a new method, the LLSA by using Sb as the laser surface alloying element, was investigated, and at proper technique conditions rather good result was obtained.

Calculation of the Hardness Space Distribution in the As Quenched Condition of a Medium Hardening Tool Steel

The calculation of the hardness profile is a powerful tool for the selection of the right steel for a given purpose. Computer programs INC-PHATRAN and INDUCTER-B were formerly developed by the authors for the calculation of hardness profiles after heat treatment processes of low alloy and carbon steels. The first one simulates quenching as well as through hardening operations, and the second one models electromagnetic induction heat treatments processes. These codes make use of the SAE Standard 3406 in order to obtain the hardness profile, with enhanced regression coefficients recently obtained by the authors. The present work broadens the field of application of this method, allowing to apply it for low hardenability tool steels such as the ASTM O1 Tool Steel. The method used for the calculation of the hardness profile is here summarized, and an example of application is described, which shows good correspondence between the calculated and measured values.

Thermodynamics Behavior of Titanium for BOF Smelting Bearing Steel

When titanium element appears in bearing steel, it is very easy to create titanium nitride inclusion, which reduces the fatigue life of bearing steel. Based on the production data of bearing steel produced by BOF, it is found that the titanium takes its source in bearing steel; the factors-affecting titanium content, and the thermodynamics behavior of titanium under smelting condition were studied. The results show that the prime reasons of titanium content increment are the soluble aluminum content and the titanium oxide of slag. The comparison between the experimental data and theoretical ones shows that there is a big declination when the soluble aluminum content of steel is higher, which is caused by the nonequilibrium reaction of slag and steel. The apparent equilibrium distribution coefficient of titanium between slag and steel is Obtained by use of experimental data.

Reduction of chromium oxides in stainless steel dust

The recovery of metal oxides from stainless steel dust using C（graphite）, SiFe, and Al as reductants was investigated under various conditions. The apparent distribution ratio of Cr（L Cr ′^m/s ） in the recovered metal and residual slag phases was defined as the major performance metric. The results show that the recovery ratio of metals increases as the ratio of CaO ：SiO2 by mass in the residual slag increases to 1.17. The residual content of metals in the slag decreases as the Al2O3 content of the slag is increased from approximately 8wt% to 10wt%. The recovery ratio of Cr increases with increasing L Cr ′^ m/s , and a linear relationship between L Cr ′^m/s and the activity coefficient ratio of CrO in the slag and the recovered metal phase is observed. The combination of C and SiFe or Al as the reducing agents reveals that Si is the more effective coreductant.

Short-term Scheduling of Steam Power System in Iron and Steel Industry under Time-of-use Power Price

A generalized formulation for short-term scheduling of steam power system in iron and steel industry under the time-of-use（TOU）power price was presented,with minimization of total operational cost including fuel cost,equipment maintenance cost and the charge of exchange power with main grid.The model took into account the varying nature of surplus byproduct gas flows,several practical technical constraints and the impact of TOU power price.All major types of utility equipments,involving boilers,steam turbines,combined heat and power（CHP）units,and waste heat and energy recovery generators（WHERG）,were separately modeled using thermodynamic balance equations and regression method.In order to solve this complex nonlinear optimization model,a new improved particle swarm optimization（IPSO）algorithm was proposed by incorporating time-variant parameters,a selfadaptive mutation scheme and efficient constraint handling strategies.Finally,a case study for a real industrial example was used for illustrating the model and validating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.