Electro Slag Refining

N.B. Ballal

Department of Metall. Eng. and Matls Science

Indian Institute of Technology,
gy, Bombayy
 Defects in solidification structures
• M
Macro and
d micro
i segregation
ti

• Large Grain size

• N
Non-metallic
t lli inclusions
i l i
9Endogenous
9Exogenous
9E
• Porosity, blowholes, micro-porosity, looseness
• G i bboundary
Grain d nature
t ?
TMP tries to minimize the effects

Can solidification
lidifi i structure itself
i lf beb made
d superior
i ?
Schematic of ESR Process
ESR Machine at Supreme Steels
Steels, Khopoli (mold lift).
lift)
IITB Technology
Laboratory ESR unit with continuous withdrawal at IITBombay
 ESR Characteristics
z Drop by drop refining
z Small liquid pool
z Near directional solidifiction
z Protection by slag layer : chemistry control
z Abilit to
Ability t control
t l solidification
lidifi ti rate t
z Microstructure control
z In-situ alloy addition possibilities.
possibilities
Control of local solidification and temperature gradients.
STAGES OF SOLIDIFICATION OF CONTINUOUS CASTING:
origin of casting defects
Effect of power on pool depth and macrostructure

a) Low power
a) Low power (27
(27 kW)
kW)

b) Medium
b)
Medium power
power (35
(35 kW)
kW)

c)c) High
Highpower
power(42
(42kW)
kW)
EFFECT OF ESR AND INOCULATION ON STEEL
CLEANLINESS
 Achievements of ESR

• Sharp reduction in the maximum size and volume

fraction of non-metallic inclusions.
• Predominantly axial fine columnar grains with very
low degree of macro and micro segregation.
segregation
• Freedom from macro and micro porosity, shrinkage
defects and micro cracks.
 EXAMPLES OF APPLICATION OF ESR

z ALLOY DEVELOPMENT

z NEW ULTRA – HIGH STRENGTH STEEL

z DUCTILE IRON ALUMINIDE (Fe3Al)

z ALLOY PROCESSING

z HIGH SPEED STEEL

z HIGH NITROGEN NICKEL – FREE STAINLESS STEEL
 Ultra High Strength Steel
for
Aerospace Application

z High Yield Strength 1500 –1700

1700 MPa
z Elongation 8-10 %
z High
Hi h Fracture
F t toughness
t h 80 MPa
MP //m
z Weldability

M.Chatterji (Midhani), PhD Thesis, IITB, 1982

MR Suresh(VSSC), PhD Thesis, IITB, 1996
SK Maity (NML), PhD Thesis, IITB, 2005
 ULTRA – HIGH STRENGTH STEEL

Starting Alloy : AFNOR 15CDV6

C Mn Cr Mo V Si P S

0.12 – 0.8 – 1.25 – 0.8 – 1.0 0.2 – 0.3 0.2 max 0.02 0.025
0.18 1.10 1.50 max max

UTS 0.2% PS Elongation

g Charpy
py K1C
(MPa) (MPa) (%) U-notch toughness MPa.
(kJ m-2) m-1/2
980 - 1175 830 - 980 8 - 12 650 - 700 65 - 70

Improve properties by chemistry conrol and ESR processing

 ESR PROCESSED 15CDV6 AND MODIFIED 15 CDV6 STEELS
STEEL PROCESSING 0.2% PS Elongation Charpy K1C
(%) U-notch
U notch MPa.
toughness m-1/2
(kJ m-2)
15 CDV6 ESR (80 ∅) 1050 20 740 --
(AS CAST)
(AS–CAST)
ESR (80 ∅) INOCULATED 1060 - 1130 19-23 790 - 1000 --
(AS–CAST)

MODIFIED ESR ((80 ∅)) 1420 10.5 280 – 370 --

15 CDV6 (AS–CAST)
(0.28 C) ESR (80 ∅) INOCULATED 1490 – 1520 12.5 370 – 400 --
(AS–CAST)
ESR (80 ∅) INOCULATED IN 1470 - 1490 10.0 – 12.5 -- --
LADLE
(AS–CAST)
MODIFIED ESR (600 ∅) INOCULATED 1410 11 -- 80 – 82
15 CDV6 ROLLED PLATE
(0.28 C) ESR (600 ∅) INOCULATED 1470 10 -- 96 – 100
ROLLED PLATE
(2000C TEMPER)
ESR ((600 ∅)) INOCULATED IN 1330 14 -- --
LADLE – ROLLED PLATE
MODIFIED ESR (80 ∅) INOCULATED 1570 – 1640 13 – 14 350 – 370 --
15CDV6 (AS – CAST)
(0.28C,4.0 Cr)
Effect of residual inoculant content on grain size of standard and
modified 15CDV6 steels

0.29C, 4Cr

0.29C, 1.5Cr
0 15C 1
0.15C, 1.5Cr
5C
 Table-4.16: Fracture toughness of 0.3C-CrMoV(ESR) steel
Heat treatment Fracture toughness Remarks
Specimen thickness condition MPa√m
mm

8.00 925oC/O.Q./200oC 100.50 Thickness

100.50 validity criterion
99.80 is not met.
98 10
98.10
12.50 925oC/O.Q./200oC 98.00 Valid
99.50
96.00
8.00 925oC/O.Q./450oC 83.20 Thickness
82.50 validity criterion
82.50 is not met.
84 60
84.60
12.50 925oC/O.Q./450oC 81.50 Valid
82.00
80.00
 IRON ALUMINIDES Fe3Al
z ADVANTAGES
– GOOD CREEP RESISTANCE AT MODERATELY
HIGH TEMPERATURES (500 – 6000C)
– LOWER DENSITY THAN STEEL
z LIMITATIONS
– NEAR ZERO ROOM TEMPERATURE DUCTILITY
DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EMBRITTLEMENT
– TENDENCY TO FORM GAS POROUSITY IN
INGOTS CAST IN AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE
– POOR HOT DEFORMABILITY
RG Baligidad (DMRL), PhD thesis, IITB, 1996
MICROSTRUCTURE
OF AS CAST ESR
Fe3Al (16 wt% Al)
ALLOYS WITH

z 0.013 %C
z 0.031 %C
z 0.074 %C
z 0.14 %C
z 0 2 %C
0.27
z 0.50 %C
ROOM TEMPERATURE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
AS – CAST ESR Fe3Al (16 wt% Al) ALLOYS
High speed steel – as cast application

SNSingh (NITR), PhD Thesis, IITB, 1992

 (i) ESR (ii) IC

Microstructure of (i) Electroslag refined & (ii) ingot cast

HSS; castings were of comparable size at 1000x.
¾ Finer carbides
¾ Thinner cell walls
¾ Discontinuous network
 High nitrogen stainless steel

Pseudo-binary phase diagram of 18%Cr-18%Mn alloy with

g solubilityy at a constant p
nitrogen pressure ( Frisk et al., 1989)
G.Balachandran (DMRL), PhD thesis, IITB, 2000.
 High Nitrogen 18Cr-18Mn steels

¾ N content 0.53 to 0.86 %

C content 0.05 to 0.62 %

¾Air induction melted with nitrided ferro alloy addition and

cast-porous ingots.

¾ Electro slag refined in air-sound

air so nd ingots
ingots-nitrogen
nitrogen loss 2 to 16
% - higher loss at higher melt rates.

¾ Forged and hot rolled UTS 1200 – 1525 MPa, % El 10 – 80

%.

¾ Cold rolled
UTS 1500 – 1850 MPa, % El 7 – 20%
 High N Electrodes : Highly porous
R A M C E
High N ESR ingots :sound
NITROGEN LOS FROM F C 18 20 M 16 5 19 0 N 0 63 0 94 C 0 05 0 63 ALLOYS DURING ESR
 Conclusion
z Electroslag remelting is a highly effective tool in
alloy development work
z Electroslag remelting is a cost effective process
for the production of a wide variety of special
steels for both commercial and strategic
applications
z Inoculation used in combination with ESR can
significantly
g y improve
p the properties
p p and
performance of alloys
z Process development can help in expanding the
scope of application and economics of the ESR
process
 Acknowledgements

Professors P.Krishna Rao, K.M.Gupt, Retd. from-IITB

Large number of Graduate students at IIT Bombay
Technical Staff at Ferrous Metallurgy Laboratory, IIT Bombay
Collaborators at VSSC Trivandrum,
DMRL Hyderabad.
Hyderabad