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Nucleation, Growth, and Aggregation of Alumina Inclusions in Steel

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Abstract

Whether a nonmetallic inclusion is detrimental to steel properties or not depends on its size. The final size of an inclusion in steel is influenced by several factors, including nucleation, growth, and aggregation. In the current work, the thermodynamics for homogeneous nucleation of alumina was calculated, and the three-dimensional alumina morphologies after Al deoxidation were observed in laboratory. It is indicated by the calculation that, when the interfacial tension between steel melt and alumina is higher or the nucleus radius is larger, it is harder for alumina to nucleation. One minute after the deoxidation, many single-alumina particles with different shapes, including spherical, dendritic, flower, plate-like, and irregular, were observed. The formation of various shapes is due to different growth mechanisms. During the holding process after deoxidation, several types of aggregation morphologies were observed, such as disorderly type and regular type. Owing to the effects of sintering and Ostwald ripening, the aggregated inclusions changed from angular shape to smooth coral shape.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for support from the National Science Foundation China (Grant No. 51274034), the Laboratory of Green Process Metallurgy and Modeling (GPM2), and the High Quality Steel Consortium at University of Science and Technology Beijing (China).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Wen Yang, Haojian Duan, Lifeng Zhang & Ying Ren

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  1. Wen Yang
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  2. Haojian Duan
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Correspondence to Lifeng Zhang.

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Yang, W., Duan, H., Zhang, L. et al. Nucleation, Growth, and Aggregation of Alumina Inclusions in Steel. JOM 65, 1173–1180 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-013-0687-z

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