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Analysis of The Surface Defects in A Hot-Rolled Lo
Analysis of The Surface Defects in A Hot-Rolled Lo
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TECHNICAL ARTICLE—PEER-REVIEWED
Abstract In the present study, a microstructural investi- surface finish of hot-rolled flat products has become the
gation was conducted on surface defects occurring in a major focus of steel producers. Despite significant progress
28 mm thick low-carbon C–Mn steel plate with ferrite– in manufacturing engineering and process optimization
pearlite microstructure. The plate contained transverse [1–4], the incidence of surface defects in rolled steel
‘‘scraped-out’’-like defect at the top surface edge and a products could not be completely eradicated. Therefore,
continuous longitudinal ‘‘V-groove’’-like defect throughout challenges to the steel manufacturers are to minimize the
the length of the plate in the bottom surface. Detailed occurrence of these undesirable surface defects and to
microstructural analyses showed formation of several small control them within the acceptable limit so as to make the
as well as long shallow unidirectional unbranched cracks product suitable for end use.
with oxide entrapments in the defect region at the top Surface quality problems can result from multiple
surface associated with partial decarburization and internal sources pertaining to unfavorable alloy chemistry [5],
oxidation confirming its genesis at the casting stage. On the irregular casting practices [6] and improper processing [7].
other hand, extensively branched ‘‘stag deer horn’’ crack Evolution of these defects in rolled steel products may
heavily filled with compact FeO oxide scale originated occur during initial steelmaking stages [8–11], or they may
from the bottom surface defect with no microstructural develop during the subsequent rolling operations [12–15].
abnormality confirmed that the groove existed before the Frequently occurring defects in slabs in terms of their
hot rolling operation and the cracks formed during the genesis and morphology have been discussed in the liter-
rolling under differential loading. ature. Some of these commonly observed defects, if not
severe, can be eliminated by scarfing treatment before hot
Keywords Surface defect Low-carbon steel plate rolling of the slabs. On the other hand, the improper
Hot rolling Oxide scale Crack downstream processing associated with reheating and hot
rolling of the continuously cast slabs may also contribute
toward surface defects [16]. Irrespective of the formation
Introduction stages, the presence of surface defects not only reduces the
aesthetic appeal to the customer but also significantly
Considerable advancement in process technology accom- affects the yield of the steel plates which in turn decreases
panied by continuously growing customer demands has the mill productivity and increases the labor cost and
revolutionized the market dynamics of rolled steel flat energy consumption [17]. Accordingly, for retaining mar-
products in the last 10–20 years. Consequently, a wider ket competitiveness, a systematic metallurgical analysis is
product range with improved quality and defect-free necessary to unravel the genesis of these surface defects.
In the present study, microstructural examination of a
28-mm-thick defective hot-rolled C–Mn steel plate sample
P. P. Sarkar (&) S. K. Dhua S. K. Thakur S. Rath
R&D Centre for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority of India Limited,
was conducted. The defect morphology did not match
Ranchi, Jharkhand 834 002, India typical defect appearances depicted in consolidated atlas of
e-mail: ppsarkar@sail-rdcis.com
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The material used in the present investigation was received Metallographic examinations were carried out at various
from an integrated steel plant in the form of a 28-mm-thick magnifications under Olympus make inverted-type GX 71
plate belonging to IS 2062 E250 B0 grade. Chemical
composition of the steel plate is given in Table 1. The
table also includes the nominal composition of this grade of Rolling
steel. This variety of steel plate is equivalent to EN 10025 direction
S275 grade and generally produced in cut to length size L-T Plane Top surface
edge defect
between 6.5 and 10.0 m with a width of 1500 mm and
thickness ranging between 12 and 30 mm. The original
slab was manufactured by continuous casting process with
thickness of 220 mm. Prior to hot rolling, the steel slab was
soaked at a temperature of 1523 K (1250 C) for 3.5 hours
and subsequently rolled down to 28 mm in 16 passes in a L-S Plane
one-stand 4-Hi plate mill per the rolling schedule given in S-T Plane
Table 2. The mechanical properties of the plate were yield
strength (YS): 291 MPa, tensile strength (UTS): 443 MPa,
Bottom surface
percent elongation (%EL): 28 and Charpy impact tough- longitudinal defect
ness: 66 J at 0 C. These plates find its application for
producing general structures. Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the surface defects and sample
orientation for metallographic analysis
Steel plate sample 0.16 1.20 0.022 0.02 0.257 0.045 Bal.
Specified (IS 2062 E250 B0 grade) 0.22 max 1.5 max 0.045 max 0.045 max 0.40 max … Bal.
Roll gap, mm 220 205 190 170 150 130 115 100 85 70 58 52 45 40 35 31 28
Draft, mm … 15 15 20 20 20 15 15 15 15 12 8 7 5 5 4 3
% Reduction … 6.82 7.32 10.53 11.76 13.33 11.54 13.04 15.00 17.65 17.14 13.79 13.46 11.11 12.50 11.43 9.68
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J Fail. Anal. and Preven.
model optical microscope in unetched as well as etched sample contained a transverse ‘‘scraped-out’’-like defect at
conditions to examine the crack profiles and microstruc- the edge. The defect was intermittent and irregularly
tural phases, respectively. shaped. In the bottom surface, a continuous longitudinal
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of both as-pol- ‘‘V-groove’’-like defect near the edge of the plate was
ished (unetched) and nital-etched samples was performed observed. No mark of other damage was found on the top
with a Carl Zeiss, UK make EVO MA 10 model scanning and bottom surfaces of the sample.
electron microscope. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS) was carried out for microanalysis of the entrapment Microstructural Analyses
present in the steel samples. The applied voltage and probe
current used for SEM observation were 20 keV and Light microscopy of the as-polished defective steel plate
80*100 lA, respectively. (sample 1) revealed a number of thin, short and long
transverse fissures, or cracks (Fig. 3) at the edge of the top
surface intruding from the plate surface to the interior.
Results and Discussion Figure 3a shows light micrograph of a typical short trans-
verse crack at the location of the edge defect on the top
Visual Inspection surface (sample 1) at 2009 magnification in unetched
condition. The crack was linear and at an angle nearly 45
The as-received sample was carefully examined, and the to the plate surface. A montage of unetched light micro-
macrographs taken are shown in Fig. 2a–b. The plate graphs showing propagation of a long, slender and shallow
crack originating from a different location of the edge
defect on the top surface is presented in Fig. 3b. Both the
cracks were unidirectional, and no branching of the cracks
could be observed. It is evident from the micrographs that
the intruding fissures contained dark gray entrapments at
places. A light micrograph in unetched condition of the
defect region of the bottom surface (sample 2) is presented
in Fig. 4 at 1009 magnification showing the origin of an
extensively branched ‘‘stag deer horn’’ crack from the deep
groove defect. Unlike the top surface cracks, the bottom
surface cracks were heavily filled with gray-colored
entrapments.
The microstructure of the steel indicated that the matrix
structure was ferrito–pearlitic (FP) as commonly observed
in C–Mn steel plates. A typical banded ferrite–pearlite
microstructure elongated in the plate rolling direction is
shown in Fig. 5 at 2009 magnification. The banding of the
ferrite–pearlite structure generally occurs due to
microsegregation of alloying elements present in the steel,
which can be eliminated by annealing treatment at a high
austenitization temperature for a long period [17, 19, 20].
No microstructural abnormality could be observed in the
steel sample.
A montage of light micrographs of the long transverse
crack in sample 1 after etching in 2% nital solution is
provided in Fig. 6 at 2009 magnification. Evidence of
partial decarburization at the location of crack origin as
well as along the crack length could be observed very
clearly in the micrographs. The figure also indicates the
presence of non-metallic entrapments (dark gray colored)
within the crack. Figure 7 shows a montage of light
Fig. 2 Macrographs of as-received steel plate sample showing micrographs of the longitudinal crack shown in Fig. 4 in
defects in (a) edge of the top surface (sample 1) and (b) bottom sample 2 etched in 2% nital solution at 1009 magnifica-
surface (sample 2), respectively tion. The figure revealed multiple crack branches filled
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Fig. 3 Optical micrographs of the steel plate specimen in as-polished and unetched condition sectioned from defective region of the top surface
(sample 1) showing transverse cracks of varying lengths at two different locations; (a) short crack and (b) long crack at the plate edge; 9200 mag
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Fig. 6 Montage of optical micrographs of sample 1 etched in 2% nital solution showing gray-colored entrapment within the long transverse
crack shown in Fig. 3b and partial decarburization along the crack length; 2009 mag
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Fig. 8 Scanning electron micrograph showing the (a) long transverse crack at the top surface (sample 1); (b) oxide layer in the crack; (c)
incidence of FeO particles at the crack tip; and (d) its corresponding EDS spectrum
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(1) The defective sample exhibited both short and long Sample 1 19.39 80.61
unidirectional transverse cracks in the edge defect Sample 2 18.67 81.33
region of the top surface and multiple branched
cracks emanating from the deep grooved longitudi-
nal defect in the bottom surface. vicinity of the crack branches of the longitudinal
(2) Microstructural examination of the defect regions defect (groove) in the bottom surface of the plate
revealed partial decarburization and internal oxida- also confirmed that the groove existed before the hot
tion along the length of the top surface edge crack rolling operation from the casting stage due to
and at the crack tip, respectively, confirming it to be casting deficiencies and the fresh cracks have
a casting defect. On the other hand, absence of any originated from the groove during rolling due to
microstructural abnormality near the crack origin or differential loading.
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(3) The above investigation pinpointed the genesis of 9. A.W. Cramb, The making, shaping and treating of steel, 11th edn.
the defects. Based on these findings, the problem Casting, The AISE Steel Foundation Pittsburgh, Pa, 2003, ISBN:
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Acknowledgments The authors are thankful to the Management of 11. M. Hasegawa, S. Maruhashi, Y. Muranaka, F. Hoshi, Mechanism
R&D Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS), Steel Authority of India of formation of surface defects in continuously cast stainless steel
Limited (SAIL), Ranchi, India, for their support and encouragement slabs containing titanium. Tetsu-to-Hagane 73(3), 505–512
in pursuing this work. Heartfelt thanks are due to Mr. J. Guria for his (1987)
assistance in optical and scanning electron microscopy job. 12. H. Utsunomiya, K. Hara, R. Matsumoto, A. Azushima, Formation
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Ann. Manuf. Technol. 63(1), 261–264 (2014)
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