The effect of MgTiO3Adding on Inclusion Characteristics

Abstract

MgTiO3 powder was directly added into molten steel at 1873K, and its effect on inclusion characteristics was studied by a scanning electron microscope and an energy dispersive spectrometer. Thermodynamic calculation indicates that MgTiO3 is unstable in molten steel and may decompose into [Ti], [O] and MgO. However, only Ti-bearing inclusions were observed in the treated sample, and Mg-bearing inclusions were absent. This can be explained by the features of wettability and stability for MgO. Compared with a Non-treated sample, both oxide and coarse MnS in treated sample were refined. For the oxide, this originates from the formation of Ti-bearing inclusion. For coarse MnS, this may be due to the fact that Ti can aggravate S segregation. Besides, this aggravation makes coarse MnS less globular. After etching, it was found that in the treated sample, Ti-bearing inclusion can induce the nucleation of intragranular acicular ferrites. This appearance was totally different from that of Non-treated sample, and indicates the effectiveness of external adding method in oxide metallurgy.

Keywords

• oxide metallurgy
• intragranular acicular ferrite
• external adding method
• 81.30.mh