Addition of Dispersoid Titanium Oxide Inclusions in Steel and Their Influence on Grain Refinement

In this article, the addition of dispersoid titanium oxide inclusions into liquid steel, the effect of additions on the inclusions found in the steel and on grain refinement, and acicular ferrite formation were studied. Different TiO₂-containing materials and addition procedures into liquid steel were tested in experimental heats to obtain inclusions that promote grain refinement and acicular ferrite formation in C-Mn-Cr steel. Different additives with metallic Ti and TiO₂ were added into the steel melt just before casting or into the mold during casting to create Ti-containing inclusions. The aluminum content in steel was lowered by an addition of iron oxide. The samples taken from steel melts and ingots were studied with a scanning electron microscope to find inclusions and to analyze them. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the Al content should be low (<50 ppm) to obtain Ti oxide dominating inclusions, whereas Al₂O₃ were formed at higher Al contents. When TiO₂ was added late before casting, the oxide inclusions were Ti oxides and were mixed with Ti, Al, and Mn oxides. Small inclusions around 1 μm were detected in the samples with TiO _x or TiN as the main component. It could be concluded that the additions resulted in a clearly higher number and in a smaller size of TiO _x inclusions than just by adding metallic Ti. Selected samples were brought for subsequent hot rolling and heat-treatment experiments to find out the grain-refining effect and the eventual formation of acicular ferrite. Grain refinement was observed clearly, but the presence of acicular ferrite could not be confirmed definitely.