Structure and mechanical characteristics of the materials of castings obtained by aluminothermic remelting of tungsten-oxide-containing compositions

Abstract

Inoculation of the iron-carbon base melt with ferrotungsten is one of the stages of commercial production of wear-resistant-steel castings. The energy- and resource-intensive process of obtaining this component, as well as non-uniform distribution of tungsten-rich ores in the lithosphere necessitate the search for alternative methods of commercial manufacture of wear-resistant steels and articles made therefrom. The high temperature inherent in tungsten remelting processes is reached through exothermic oxidation-reduction reaction occurring in mixtures containing ore concentrate. Scale and aluminum swarf, which are technogenic formations difficult to dispose of, are used as the principal components of such thermite mixtures. Scheelite concentrate may be used as the ore component. Thus, the process under design is aimed at solving the problems of recycling waste generated by the metallurgical and mechanical engineering industries, as well as at ensuring energy- and material efficiency of the process of manufacturing castings from wear-resistant steels. The lack of information on the structure- and property-formation processes for wear-resistant steels obtained by aluminothermic remelting of scheelite concentrate-containing compositions has necessitated the conduct of a set of experiments. The paper presents the results of the experiment in determination of the impact of the reductant and scheelite concentrate content in thermites on the structure and mechanical properties of the samples of wear-resistant iron-carbon alloys.