Laboratory Study on Prevention of CaO-Containing ASTM “D-Type” Inclusions in Al-Deoxidized Low-Oxygen Steel Melts During Basic Slag Refining

Present work was attempted to explore the possibility of preventing CaO-containing inclusions in Al-deoxidized low-oxygen special steel during basic slag refining, which were known as ASTM D-type inclusions. Based on the analysis on formation thermodynamics of CaO-containing inclusions, a series of laboratory experiments were designed and carried out in a vacuum induction furnace. During the experiments, slag/steel reaction equilibrium was intentionally suppressed with the aim to decrease the CaO contents in inclusions, which is different from ordinary concept that slag/steel reaction should be promoted for better control of inclusions. The obtained results showed that high cleanliness of steel was obtained in all the steel melts, with total oxygen contents varied between 0.0003 and 0.0010 pct. Simultaneously, formation of CaO-containing inclusions was successfully prohibited, and all the formed oxide inclusions were MgO-Al₂O₃ or/and Al₂O₃ in very small sizes of about 1 to 3 μm. And 90 pct to nearly 98 pct of them were wrapped by relative thicker MnS outer surface layers to produce dual-phased “(MgO-Al₂O₃) + MnS” or “Al₂O₃ + MnS” complex inclusions. Because of much better ductility of MnS, certain deformability of these complex inclusions can be expected which is helpful to improve fatigue resistance property of steel. Only very limited number of singular MnS inclusions were with sizes larger than 13 μm, which were formed during solidification because of. In the end, formation of oxide inclusions in steel was qualitatively evaluated and discussed.