Inclusion characterisation for clean steelmaking and quality control

Abstract

Improving steelmaking and casting processes to adapt to the requirements of internal and external customers involves continuous monitoring and evaluation of existing and development of new steel refining practices. Internal quality control of semifinished products requires tools that can correlate product defects to process anomalies. This article focuses on use of techniques such as measurement of complete steel and slag chemistry, inclusion analysis, process analysis and thermodynamics to assess the influence of process conditions on product properties. Examples from both long and flat products, including low carbon aluminium killed steels, medium carbon aluminium killed steels, advanced high strength steels and free machining steels, are presented to explain the benefit of using these tools to understand the process conditions necessary for clean steelmaking and thus improve product quality. © 2012 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.