Control of Crystal Morphology for Mold Flux During High-Aluminum AHSS Continuous Casting Process

In the present manuscript, the efforts to control the crystal morphology are carried out aiming at improving the lubrication of lime-alumina-based mold flux for casting advanced high-strength steel with high aluminum. Jackson α factors for crystals of melt crystallization in multi-component mold fluxes are established and reasonably evaluated by applying thermodynamic databases to understand the crystal morphology control both in lime-alumina-based and lime-silica-based mold fluxes. The results show that Jackson α factor and supercooling are the most critical factors to determine the crystal morphology in a mold flux. Crystals precipitating in mold fluxes appear with different morphologies due to their different Jackson α factors and are likely to be more faceted with higher Jackson α factor. In addition, there is a critical supercooling degree for crystal morphology dendritic transition. When the supercooling over the critical value, the crystals transform from faceted shape to dendritic ones in morphology as the kinetic roughening occurs. Typically, the critical supercooling degrees for cuspidine dendritic transition in the lime-silica-based mold fluxes are evaluated to be between 0.05 and 0.06. Finally, addition of a small amount of Li₂O in the mold flux can increase the Jackson α factor and decrease the supercooling for cuspidine precipitation; thus, it is favorable to enhance a faceted cuspidine crystal.