Evaluation of the chemical composition and microcleanliness of the steel samples from the heavy forging ingot

Abstract

The paper presents new results obtained from the evaluation of the chemical composition, microcleanliness and structure of the 90-ton heavy ingot cast in two successive heats, in which the content of Cu and Ni was intentionally modified in order to assess the degree of mutual mixing of the two heats in the ingot volume during the steel casting and solidification. For determination of chemical composition, spectral analysis and LECO were used. Microcleanliness evaluation was carried out on a Hitachi microanalytical complex equipped with the energy-dispersive spectrometer Vantage. To assess the composition of oxide non-metallic inclusions ternary diagrams were used. Structure of the basic steel matrix was induced by etching. The evaluation showed that in the casting of two successive heats, a certain degree of inhomogeneity of chemical composition, especially in the lower part of the ingot can be assumed in case of different composition. A greater segregation of sulphur in the central top part of the ingot was also detected. However, microcleanliness of the entire ingot is in general very good with low proportions of non-metallic inclusions.