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Controlling the primary recrystallization texture is important to improve the magnetic properties of grain-oriented electrical steel through secondary recrystallization. To understand the factors influencing fine precipitates on the primary recrystallization mechanism and texture formation, changes in the recrystallization behaviors with states of precipitates (extremely fine, and coarse) were investigated through cold rolling, pre-annealing, and primary recrystallization annealing in Fe-3%Si alloy with initial coarse Goss ({110}<001>) grains using EBSD and TEM. Extremely fine MnS precipitated during the recovery stage had significant effects on the suppression of further recovery and recrystallization, especially after pre-annealing at 550 °C. Recrystallized Goss grains were observed after primary recrystallization annealing by nucleation and growth irrespective of the states of precipitates; however, in the steel with extremely fine precipitates, {111}<112> grains remained through primary recrystallization annealing. It is assumed that fine precipitates would inhibit the growth of Goss grains and keep {111}<112> orientation, the main orientation in the cold rolled sheet, which would indicate occurrence of continuous recrystallization.

The main function of the converter furnace lining was to provide a durable container for the high-temperature molten bath. During the steelmaking process, the occurrence of melting corrosion led to the destruction of the furnace lining structure and a subsequent change in the shape of the furnace. Hence, the dynamic condition of the molten bath was altered. In this paper, both water experiment and numerical simulation have been adopted to analyze the flow field characteristic of molten bath by various oxygen lance parameters, in both the initial and late stages of the furnace lining structure of a top-blowing converter. The results revealed the late furnace lining structure improved the average velocity of the molten bath, thereby reducing the mixing time and volume of the low-velocity dead zone, comparing with the furnace lining structure. In the late furnace lining structure, the larger furnace diameter expanded the impaction area of the molten bath, resulting in an enhanced contact area between the liquid slag and the molten steel. Consequently, the FeO in the liquid slag rapidly reacted with the C element in the molten steel, leading to a decrease in the fluidity of the liquid slag and a decline in dephosphorization efficiency. Based on the results generated by water experiment and numerical simulation, two types of new oxygen lances were investigated in the industrial application research. Subsequently, it was determined that the new oxygen lance with an inclination angle of 12.3° was deemed suitable for the 35t top-blowing converter.

The effect of Mn on the alloying reaction during hot-dip galvanization was investigated. The microstructure of the Fe–Zn intermetallic layers consisted of ζ, δ, and Γ phases for both pure Fe and Fe–2Mn (wt.%) alloy. The intermetallic layers grew thicker with increasing dipping time, and the growth rate of each layer was similar for both substrates. In the case of Fe–2Mn, the formation of the δ_1p phase was observed after dipping for 2 s. However, δ_1p formation was delayed for pure Fe, indicating that Mn may promote nucleation of the δ_1p phase. It is known that the δ_1p phase nucleates in the Fe-saturated ζ phase. The Fe content at the ζ/δ_1p interface was found to be lower for the Fe–2Mn alloy by electron probe microanalysis, suggesting that the supersaturation of Fe for the nucleation of δ_1p is decreased by Mn addition and Mn may stabilize the δ_1p phase. Once δ_1p became a continuous layer, the growth rates of the δ_1p layer on pure Fe and Fe–2Mn were similar. Mn could affect only the nucleation of δ_1p during the initial stage of the alloying reaction.

During the solidification process, the precipitation of inclusions is inevitable due to micro-segregation, especially AlN and MnS in TWIP steel. In order to reasonably control the precipitation of inclusion, the cooling rate as an important factor in the casting process was studied through the unidirectional solidification experiments. The combined analyses using ASEM-EDS, EPMA and optical microscope revealed that the number density of precipitated inclusion decreased along the solidification direction with the decrease of the solid fraction. The number density of Al₂O₃, which existed in the liquid alloy was basically stable. On the contrary, the number density of MnS decreased and that of AlN increased with the increasing of cooling rate. Moreover, in the early stage of the solidification (f_s<0.1), the order of Al concentration curve slope was 0.58 K/s >0.38 K/s >0.1 K/s due to the entrapment of precipitated AlN by the solid-liquid interface moving relatively fast. Temperature was the main factor to affect the AlN precipitation and the particles were precipitated at the early stage of the solidification process. AlN inclusions can become the core to form the composite particles and have the positive effect on fining grains.

High-temperature H₂ reduction and melting experiments were conducted to extract metallic Fe from lunar regolith simulant. Differences in the recovery of metallic Fe with the addition of oxides were investigated in terms of the wettability at the interface between molten slag and liquid Fe. Ilmenite, albite, and Na₂O·xSiO₂ compounds were used as additive oxides. The effect of wettability on Fe recovery is discussed by evaluation of the contact angle obtained by calculations of surface tension and interfacial tension. The results confirmed that wettability is a major factor affecting coalescence of Fe particles in these slags.

To obtain the formation characteristics of melting slag-iron in cohesive zone of hydrogen rich blast furnace (BF), the phase composition of primary slag, the variation of slag amount and the mechanism of metal iron carburizing under different atmosphere conditions were analyzed. The results showed that: The hydrogen-rich operation in BF changes the formation of primary slag and the carburizing behavior of metal iron in the cohesive zone. After hydrogen enrichment in gas, the amount of primary slag decreases. The wustite decreases, however, the primary slag absorbs CaO and Al₂O₃ to form the monticellite, hortonolite and magnesium rosaceite. With the increase of hydrogen enrichment ratio φ(H₂), the high melting point material (2CaO·SiO₂) began to crystallize out, and the melting point of primary slag gradually increase, coupled with the substantial reduction of slag content, which may lead to the "Drying" phenomenon of primary slag in hydrogen-rich blast furnace. The hydrogen-rich operation of blast furnace changes the contact mode between the iron charge and coke from surface contact to point contact in the cohesive zone, which reduces the carburizing rate of metal iron in cohesive zone so that the content of [C] and [S] in the dripping molten iron decreases accordingly. The formation of high melting point material in the primary slag and the blockage of the carburizing process of metal iron lead to the increase of the droplet temperature of slag-iron, which makes the blast furnace's cohesive zone move down and thinner.

Image analysis was performed on the analytical objects constructed by X-ray computed tomography images of coke with anthracite as low swelling and softening-melting coal to evaluate the pore structure three-dimensionally. The sphericity of the pores was calculated based on the volume and surface area of the pores. Tracers were inserted into all anthracite particles to distinguish coke matrices derived from anthracite from those derived from coking coal. This is the first success in identifying coke matrices derived from coking coal and those derived from other carbon source. The sphericity of pores in the surrounding area of the coke matrix derived from anthracite and the area without coke matrix derived from anthracite was extracted from the analytical object. The surrounding area of the coke matrix derived from anthracite contained more low-sphericity pores compared to the area without coke matrix derived from anthracite. This may be due to the free expansion of the coking coal in the surrounding area of the anthracite since the anthracite does not soften or expand during carbonization. The coking coal expanded excessively to fill the voids between the particles, resulting in the bubbles bursting and generating connected pores.

In this paper, fatigue crack initiation and propagation properties of three structural steels with different static strength and cyclic softening behavior were evaluated and compared with the estimation results based on the local strain response. Steel C had the highest cyclic softening rate, which was 10 times that of steel A and twice that of steel B. The relationship between strain range and fatigue life in the fatigue life region shorter than 10^5 cycles was almost the same regardless of the test steels. The fatigue crack initiation life from the notch bottom of the SENT specimen was almost the same independent of static strength and cyclic softening rate. The crack initiation life estimated from the Strain range versus fatigue life equation using the local strain response measured by DIC was roughly in agreement with the experimental results. Steel C had the highest crack opening load and the slowest fatigue crack propagation rate compared to the other two steels. The local strain range at the fatigue crack tip showed a good correlation with the fatigue crack propagation rate irrespective of the steel grade. In addition, the estimates of fatigue crack propagation rate based on the local strain response were in almost agreement with the experimental results.

Oxidation processes are unavoidable in continuous casting and further hot processing of steel. A deeper understanding of the occurring phenomena such as intergranular oxidation and liquid metal infiltration of grain boundaries is essential to continuously improve the quality of the products. In this study, oxidation experiments were performed with simultaneous thermal analysis for two thin slab casting and rolling applications under near-process conditions up to the point prior to the first reduction stage. The experiments were performed for two low-carbon steels contaminated with undesirable tramp elements (Cu, Sn, …). In addition, the two steels contain Silicon at different levels. The results show that for the "Endless Strip Production" process (ESP), intergranular oxidation is significantly less pronounced compared to a "Thin Slab Casting and Rolling process" with a gas-fired tunnel furnace (TSCR TF). Due to the short process time at high temperatures in the ESP process, hardly any liquid metal infiltration by copper appears. In low silicon steel, intergranular oxidation results from various oxides, and liquid metal infiltration appears simultaneously in the TSCR TF process. Furthermore, the yield loss from oxidation is significantly higher in the TSCR TF process. The change from a natural gas combustion atmosphere to a hydrogen combustion atmosphere further increases the oxidation rate and results in a higher mass loss.

The mechanical properties of TRIP steels depend on heterogeneities of chemical composition and grain size in the retained γ structure, although these heterogeneities have not been characterized in detail. Therefore, in this study, we quantitatively investigate the inhomogeneous carbon concentration and grain size distribution, and its effects on the thermal stability of the retained γ in Fe-2Mn-1.5Si-0.4C (mass%) TRIP steel using FE-EPMA, EBSD, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and in-situ neutron diffraction during bainitic transformation at 673 K. In-situ neutron diffraction experiments detects high-carbon γ evolving during bainite transformation, in addition to the original γ, and the time variation of the volume fraction of high-carbon γ agrees well with the fraction of γ retained at room temperature. Williamson-Hall analysis based on peak width suggests that heterogeneity of carbon content exists even within the high-carbon γ. Compositional analysis using FE-EPMA and three-dimensional atom probe directly revealed that fine filmy γ was highly enriched with carbon compared to larger blocky γ, and the carbon content in blocky γ decreases with increasing blocky γ size. DICTRA simulation qualitatively reproduces the size dependency of carbon enrichment into γ. It was also found that γ tends to be retained at higher carbon content and smaller γ grain size since the smaller grain size directly improves thermal stability and the smaller γ size further contributes to the thermal stability via enhanced carbon enrichment.