M e t a l Science a n d Heat Treatment

Vol. 39, Nos. 11 - 12, 1997

UDC 620.191.32:669.14.018.262

PHASE C O M P O S I T I O N OF SCALE OF H O T - R O L L E D
A U T O M O B I L E SHEET STEEL 08Yu
Yu. A. M u k h i n , t A. V. Merzlyakov, ! A. F. Pimenov, t and A. P. S h a p o v a l o v t
Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 12, pp. 2 8 - 30, December, 1997.
We studied the reasons behind the different rates of scale
dissolution in the pickling process. We cut specimens with
scale from various parts of ribbons fabricated at a low
(630~ and a high (710~ winding temperature. The scale
was removed from the base metal by deforming the specimens in a tensile testing machine.
It has been shown in [3, 4] that at low tw the main ironcontaining phase of the scale is magnetite (Fe304), whereas at
high tw the scale consists of magnetite with finely distributed particles of metallic iron.
The oxide phases were separated from specimens the
scale by the method of halogenation in an atmosphere of
gaseous chlorine. After transforming the oxide phases into a
solution an analysis of the constituent elements was made by
chemical and atomic-absorption methods. Table 2 presents
the compositions and amounts of the phases contained in the
scale. It can be seen that scale from ribbons obtained at different winding temperatures has virtually the same amounts of
silicon and aluminum oxides but differs substantially in the
contents of iron and its oxides. The total amount of oxides in
scale formed at t w = 630~ is about 1.5 times lower and that
of iron is about 2 times higher than in scale of ribbon wound
at tw = 710~
To determine the iron phases in the scale we resorted to
gamma-resonance spectroscopy. The spectra were taken from
scale specimens without any additional physicochemical
treatment. The spectra had the form of well-resolved Zeeman
sextets of magnetite, a-iron, and, with a syngate line in the
center, wiistite. The curves of the spectra of scale specimens
obtained at low and high winding temperatures are quite

The production process for automobile sheets in the Novolipetsk Iron-and-Steel Integrated Works includes hot rolling in a 2000 continuous wide-band mill, pickling of the hotrolled ribbon in a solution of hydrochloric acid, cold rolling
in a 2030 five-strand mill, heat treatment, and dressing [I].
Depending on the kind of heat treatment of the semifinished
rolled stock (batch treatment in ball furnaces or continuous
treatment in an installation for continuous annealing (ICA)),
the hot rolling is conducted by different temperature and rate
regimes.
Steel 08Yu (<0.07% C, 0 . 2 0 - 0 . 3 5 % Mn, _<0.01% Si,
< 0.02% P, < 0.025% S, _<0.03% Cr, _<0.06% Ni, _<0.06%
Cu, 0.02 - 0.07% AI) is rolled in a 2000 mill for ribbons over
2.6 mm thick by two variants (Table 1).
To provide the requisite high temperatures of final rolling
(tf~) and winding (t w) in the production of automobile sheet
steel by variant I a high temperature should be sustained over
the entire length of the mill, which is provided by distributing
the deformations between the rough and finishing groups (the
thickness of the rolled product before the finishing group is
40 - 45 mm) and sustaining elevated feeding rates (up to 11 12 m/sec in the 12th strand of the mill). However, an increase
in the temperature of hot rolling is accompanied by formation
of defects of the "rolled-in scale" type on the surface of the
rolled ribbon. These defects worsen the surface quality of the
final product. In addition, the output of the continuous pickling installations diminishes [2], because more time is required to remove scale from ribbon wound at a higher temperature.
Lipetsk Polytechnic Institute; 1. P. Bardin Central Research Institute of
Ferrous Metallurgy; A. A. Baikov Institute for Metals; Novolipetsk Ironand-Steel Integrated Works, Russia.

TABLE 2
tw, ~
630

TABLE I
Rolling
variant

Ifr,

t,,., ~

Form of heat treatment

710

870 - 920

720 - 760

Continuous annealing in an ICA

11

8 2 0 - 860

620 - 660

Annealing in bell furnaces

Sampling
place in
the ribbon

Content o f p h a s e s in scale of steel 08Yu, %

SiO2

AI203

Fe304

FeO

Fe203

Feme t

Beginning
Middle

1.5
2.40

1.3
I.I

59.2
48.3

7.00

38.0
41.2

62.0
59.8

End

1.70

I.I

30.4

28.3

38.5

61.5

Beginning
End

2.30
1.60

1.0
1.0

61.9
33.0

8.2
46.0

10.6
-

16.0
18.4

84.0
81.6

K_~

Total amount of oxides.

532
0026-067319711 I 12-0532518.00 9 1998 Plenum Publishing Corporation

Phase Composition of Scale of Hot-Rolled Automobile Sheet Steel 08Yu

similar. The main phase of the scale on the initial part of ribbons rolled at high and low tw is magnetite. In addition, at
high tw the scale contains a small amount of wiistite (FeO)
and hematite (Fe203) obviously formed due to transformation
of lower oxides into higher ones during the longer cooling
from the high winding temperature. The scale on the middle
part of the ribbon obtained at low tw contains predominantly
magnetite. In the end parts of the ribbons produced at low and
high tw the ratio of the concentrations of magnetite and
wiJstite fluctuates from l to 0.7. The quantitative ratio of the
oxide phases and metallic iron in the scale taken from the
edges and from the middle parts of the ribbons is the same
and does not depend on tw .
We did not find carbide phases of the M3C type in the
scale. Silicate and spinel inclusions of the Fe2SiO4, FeSiO3,
and FeO 9AI203 types have not been detected either. However, they can be present in the scale in an amount below 1%,
which cannot be determined by the method of nuclear gamma
resonance. These phases have high chemical stability as conceres dissolution in acids. They are present in the scale in the
form of point inclusions, can be "rolled" into the metal, and
are not removed in the pickling process [5].
Analyzing the results obtained we found that wiJstite as
well as magnetite can be the main phase in the scale of steel
08Yu at both a low and a high winding temperature of the ribbon. The presence of metallic iron in the oxide layer and its
amount are the main factor influencing the intensity of the
process of scale removal from the surface of a hot-rolled ribbon. The interaction between the metallic iron and the pickling solution causes release of molecular hydrogen, which
creates additional channels and cracks in the scale layer. This
provides rapid penetration of the pickling solution to the oxi-

533

d e - m e t a l interface. A decrease in amount of metallic iron

and, as a consequence, an increase in the amount of Scale decelerate the diffusion of the pickling solution, and it reaches
the o x i d e - m e t a l interface not everywhere simultaneously.
The metal surface becomes uneven because the pickling solution acts on it for different times. The interaction of any iron
oxide with the acid occurs slowly and cannot provide rapid
pickling of the rolled metal even at high temperatures.
CONCLUSION
To obtain a rolled product with a pure surface we should
conduct hot deformation by a regime (for example, at diminished temperatures of rolling and winding) that provides formation of a considerable amount (over 40%) of iron in the
scale, which promotes its rapid dissolution in the pickling
process. Defects of the "rolled-in"-scale type are virtually absent on the surface of rolled ribbons produced by such a regime.

REFERENCES
1. A. F. Pimenov, A. M. Pozhivanov, L. V. Meandrov, et al., Stal',
No. 5,42-44(1982).
2. Yu. A. Mukhin, A. P. Shapovalov, M. A. Bobrov, et al., Stal',
No. 4, 45 - 4 8 (1985).
3. B. Frisch, Arch. EisenhiJttenwes., 54(8), 311 - 316 (1983).
4. L. Hahtel, R. Bode, and L. Mayer, Ferrous Metals, No. 14, 3 - 8
(1984).
5. B. A. Gun'ko, S. A. Kiseleva, O. S. Tuchkina, and A. V. Merzlyakov, "Methods for analyzing the monitoring and testing of
metal structures," in: Coll. of Works of TsNIICsERMET [in Russian], Metallurgiya, Moscow (1983), pp. 72 - 75.