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By Cristiano José Scheuer

The effect of low-temperature plasma carburizing treatment on the micro-abrasive wear resistance of AISI 420 steel was investigated by mean of a CSM Calowear ball-cratering equipment. Carburized samples were treated at temperatures of 350, 400, 450 and 500°C for a fixed time of 12 h, using a gas mixture containing 99.5% (80% H2+20% Ar)+0.5% CH4. Micro-scale abrasive wear tests were conducted with a 25.4 mm AISI 420 steel sphere, using an abrasive suspension of alumina (Al2O3) with particle size of 1 ?m (abrasive concentration of 0.11 g/cm³). The contact normal force, abrasive flow and ball rotation speed were fixed at: 0.5 N, 0,2 drop/s, and 120 rpm. The wear craters were analyzed using a confocal laser microscope, Olympus OLS 3000. The wear analyses were performed for test times of: 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 360, 540, 720 and 900 s (equivalent sliding distance: 0.84, 1.68, 2.52, 3.36, 5.04, 10.09, 15.14, 20.19 and 25.23 m, respectively). The results indicate that the wear coefficient in the outer layer and in the diffusion layer are different, being lower in the latter. It was also verified that the wear coefficient on the outer layer region decreases with increasing treatment temperature in the range of 350 to 450 °C, and increase again for 500ºC. The diffusion layer wear coefficient is similar for all the carburized samples. Finally, for all studied conditions, the analysis of the wear craters surface indicates the occurrence of grooving and micro-rolling abrasion wear modes.

Aug 8, 2018

By Milan Terčelj, Matej Drobne, Urška Klančnik, Peter Fajfar

The study of oxidation behavior of High Chromium Steel material used for surface layer of work rolls was carried out. Specimens taken directly from the roll were subjected to thermal fatigue in the temperature range between room temperature and 500 °C up to 700 °C by using thermo-mechanical simulator Gleeble 1500D. Our observation was focused on the impact of oxidation as a principal mechanism of degradation of the roll’s surface layer - mainly on the characteristics of oxidation propagation in relation to the test temperature and microstructure constituents characteristics of the material. Oxidation is considerably accelerated by certain characteristics of eutectic and primary carbides, i.e. their size (area), composition, morphology, orientation regarding to the water-cooled surface, etc. In the presented paper selected cases where emphasized oxidation takes place are investigated, analyzed and explained. Obtained results thus represent a contribution to explanation of conditions which lead to acceleration of oxidation behavior that in turn can lead to chipping or even early spalling of material from the roll surface layer.

Oct 1, 2019

By Carolina Gomes Dias Ribeiro

The modern composite materials, especially those reinforced with synthetic fibers such as glass and carbon, have been used since last century to attend the demands required by most technological fields, from home appliances to aerospace. Natural fibers composites with biodegradable polymer matrices are considered environmentally friendly materials and currently accepted as possible substitutes for synthetic composites. These green composites can be safely discarded or composted at the end of their life without harm to the environment. Another alternative for synthetic composites is to apply natural lignocellulosic fibers as reinforcement of conventional polymer matrices and already used in the automobile industry. In addition to the environmental and societal advantages of the green composites, the lignocellulosic fiber reinforced conventional polymer composite also has economical and technical advantages. In the case of a fiber collected as a waste, the price of the composite can be considerably lower than “fiberglass”. Furthermore, with high strength lignocellulosic fibers such as sisal, ramie and malva the specific strength of a composite may approach that of “fiberglass”. Therefore the objective of the present work is to investigate the mechanical behavior of polymer matrix composites reinforced with high volumes of natural malva fibers subjected to tensile stresses.

Aug 16, 2017

By Juergen Meisel

The paper will explain how to successfully implement a robotic solution from the initial idea to a working industrial solution. Primetals Technologies can call upon 10 years of experience in installation of Robot solutions in the harsh environment of steelmaking plants - the so-called LiquiRob. To enhance an existing shroud manipulation system, the idea to connect the shroud with a bayonet mechanism to the ladle nozzle was born in accordance with the requirements of a well-known steel producer. The paper will describe the development steps from the first simulations and prototype testing in the laboratory, it will show the intensive system testing under workshop conditions and will finally depict the successful integration into the plant. Furthermore, operational experience will be shown as well as the advantages of such an installation compared to other shroud manipulation systems.

Oct 30, 2017

By Glaydson Simões dos Reisr

Micropore organosilicas (MOs) were synthesized using methyl-phenyl-polysiloxane as precursor. The MOs were characterized using several analytical and functional techniques. The materials were assigned as micropores materials, with specific surface area up to 642 m2 g-1 and yield up to 72.55%. The adsorbents have hydrophobic surfaces and were used for removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions. The adsorption kinetic and isothermal data were well described by the general order and Sips models, respectively. Diclofenac exhibited a better affinity than NM and the mechanism of adsorption suggested that hydrophobic groups play a key role in the adsorption process.

Aug 17, 2017

By Felipe Beluche Lima, Caio Augusto Silva Santos

Brazil is the largest producer of crude steel in the Americas by BOF process and many challenges come along with the increasing market demand. In the BOF, a tubular wall hood structure has been showing premature failures related to the overlay welded tube technology placed in the hood wall. The main root causes were: thermal fatigue at 1800°C, hot spot formation, high heat-affected zone (HAZ) leading to susceptibility of stress cracking, carburizing corrosion and superficial wearing. Based on that, co-extruded tube technology (named composite tube by Sandvik) was the alternative chosen to enhance hood performance without compromising BOF process. In order to rises safety and productivity, composite tube has 100% metallurgical bond assuring stable expansion, high heat exchange efficiency, better corrosion resistance and less rough surface finishing. It was highly suggested to many others mills due to similar and already existing reported cases.

Oct 1, 2019

By Rudolf Hubmer

In October 2013 JSW Steel decided to place an order to Primetals Technologies Austria (former Siemens VAI Metals Technologies) for the installation of a comprehensive Level 2 process optimization system for more than 20 existing production facilities of various suppliers. For SMS-I new L2 systems are provided for two hot metal pretreatment stations, three hot metal desulphurization stations, three ladle furnaces, two 1-strand slab casters, a ladle tracking system as well as a shop supervisory system. Additionally the existing L2 system for one 1-strand slab caster is being upgraded in the course of the project. In SMS-II new L2 systems for the 7 hot metal desulphurization stations, 4 ladle furnaces, 1 new RH vacuum degasser, ladle tracking system and a shop supervisory system are supplied. Despite of the challenging time schedule the commissioning of the single facilities started within less than 12 month after contract effectiveness. The installed Level 2 process optimization systems together with the achieved results are described in this paper.

Aug 16, 2017

By Felipe da Silva Siqueira, Weslley Luiz da Silva Assis, Gláucio Soares da Fonseca, André Luiz Moraes Alves, Guilherme Dias da Fonseca, Paulo Rangel Rios

Com o contínuo advento dos materiais aumenta-se as chances de uma dada transformação envolver duas ou mais fases produto. Quando essa transformação de uma fase matriz em duas ou mais fases produto ocorre, ela pode ser simultânea, quando as fases produto iniciam-se no mesmo instante, ou sequencial, quando elas iniciam-se em tempos diferentes. É sabido, pela teoria clássica da nucleação, que a nucleação heterogênea tem vantagens sobre a nucleação homogênea, e que vários sítios podem se tornar preferenciais por favorecerem a nucleação heterogênea. Dois sítios preferenciais bastante presentes são a interface de precipitados e os contornos de grão. Neste contexto, um modelamento analítico e computacional, via cone causal, foi empregado para investigar transformações simultâneas e sequenciais que possuem sítios preferenciais para a nucleação. Considerou-se que uma fase matriz policristalina que possui precipitados esféricos transforma-se em duas fases produto, 1 e 2, onde a fase produto 1 nucleou na interface matriz/partículas e a fase produto 2 nos contornos de grão. Os resultados de simulação tiveram ótima concordância com o modelamento analítico e observou-se que cada sítio preferencial teve um efeito muito distinto nas microestruturas simuladas.

Oct 4, 2019

By Stefan Thelen

In November 2013 Salzgitter restarted their tandem mill after two weeks of shutdown, during which the existing mill entry equipment has been removed and replaced by new entry area equipment including pay-off reels, welding machine and a vertical entry looper for continuous feeding of the 5-stand tandem mill. It turned out to be beneficial to both product quality and production capacity.

Aug 16, 2017

By Luis Armando Espitia

AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel specimens were low temperature plasma nitrided at 400°C in a mixture of 75%N2:25%H2, during 20 h. Active screen technic was used to avoid any edge effect The nitrided case is composed of expanded martensite (a’N) and e-Fe3N iron nitride, whilst chromium nitride precipitation was avoided. Surface hardness reached 1275 HV0.01. The transverse microhardness profile shows a gentle hardness gradient with a NHT nitrided case depth of 28 µm. Nanoindentation tests were carried out in order to assess the hardness (H), the Young modulus (E), the H/E and H3/E2 ratios and the elastic recovery (We) of both nitrided and non-nitrided specimens. The cavitation erosion mass losses were measured as a function of exposure time. The results showed a decrease of 27 times of the mass loss compared to the non-nitride specimens. Wear rate decreased from 2.56 mg/h for the non-nitrided condition to 0.085 mg/h after nitriding. The increment in the elastic recovery and the higher hardness values are responsible for the greater cavitation erosion resistance exhibited by the expanded martensite. Such results showed that low temperature plasma nitriding and the formation of expanded martensite are effective to increase cavitation erosion resistance of AISI 410 stainless steel.

Jul 31, 2018

By Jörg Busch

The essential pre-requisite for attaining the high quality of product required from high-speed continuous production processes is the use of new measurement and control technologies. High availability and reproducible measuring results ensure the high level of process stability necessary for full continuous operation. The requirements for the optimisation of quality across the complete production process and for quality analysis systems will be discussed. This report will present examples of basic and new measurement technologies in Cold Rolling Mills and Processing Lines. The following gauging systems will be discussed in detail: Strip tension meter, roll force measurements, weighing systems and shapemeter rolls. The measuring and control systems in this presentation must be seen as high-tech solutions in the field of processing technology. The measuring methods and technologies described are, together with optimised process models and precision control loops and actuators, the main pre-requisites for achieving the quality of product required from high-speed continuous production processes. Interconnected quality management systems enable optimisation across the complete production process.

Jul 30, 2018

By Altemar Dettogne do Nascimento

A Máquina de Lingotamento Contínuo nº 1 da ArcelorMittal Tubarão (AMT), com capacidade nominal de 1,8 milhões de toneladas/ano, teve seu start up em 1995. A máquina é curva com raio de 10,5 m. São produzidas placas de 200, 225 e 250 mm, largura de 800 a 1650 mm e velocidade até 1,7 m/min. Em Abril de 2012, a Máquina parou para uma reforma geral. A empresa Italiana Danieli Davy Distington foi contratada para fornecer a engenharia, fabricação e entrega dos equipamentos no período de 12 meses. No ano anterior à parada da máquina, foi realizado um site survey, o que possibilitou a elaboração de um planejamento detalhado de todas as atividades. A reforma da máquina teve como objetivos principais: correção do alinhamento da máquina, substituição de estruturas oxidadas, implantação de novas tecnologias e redução do tempo de exposição dos operadores a ambientes agressivos (alta temperatura, projeção de aço, queda de cascão da panela e material particulado) através da implantação da sala remota de controle dos veios. A máquina foi colocada em operação em 10 de agosto 2012 após ter completado, sem desvios, as fases de instalação e testes. Este trabalho mostra as fases de desenvolvimento deste projeto, os resultados das tecnologias implantadas e os testes de performance para diferentes famílias de aço.

Jul 29, 2018

By John Malcolm Gray

Interest in X-80 linepipe steels emerged in the early 1980’s and it was first used in 1985 by Ruhr Gas [1]. The early steels were extensions of conventional Nb-V or Nb-Mo microalloyed X-70 steels but other alloying concepts emerged based on Nb-Mo-B alloying (NKSTAF [2] and ULCB [3]). The latter had acicular ferrite/bainitic microstructures and carbon contents below 0.05 percent. In parallel renewed interest developed in ultra low carbon (0.02 percent) higher niobium steels which had first been studied in 1962 [4]. Such steels exhibited excellent notch toughness when processed with high finish rolling temperatures (>950°C) which made them suitable for processing on weak, older rolling mills. With time such steels, designated “High Temperature Processed”, or HTP steels, were further optimized and produced in modern, very strong rolling mills due to their superior economy compared with traditional vanadium and molybdenum containing steels. The chronology of the HTP development is presented in the present paper. Full scale demonstration heats of a 0.06 percent carbon 0.10 percent niobium steel were produced by Bofors Steel Plant in 1972 and were converted from slabs to plates by nine different steel mills [5-7]. Commercial application in API Grade X-70 first occurred in Canada in 1974 [8,9] but the concept was only used sporadically after that until 1998 when it was applied for the API Grade X-70 Sour Service Cantarell Project [10] in Mexico. Soon thereafter, the El Paso Cheyenne Plains Project used a 0.05%C 0.095%Nb 0.27%Cr variant of the HTP steel [10-12]. Nowadays the HTP concept is being utilized for construction of approximately 6000 km of 48” OD x 18.4 mm X-80 per year in China. The metallurgical principles and history of the development are presented in details in this paper.

Aug 7, 2018

By Ana Maria Guilherme Bailon

A coesão entre os grãos de ferro em pelotas queimadas é afetada por mecanismos difusionais dependentes de tempo e temperatura de sinterização e do tipo de elementos presentes na escória. Óxidos presentes nos insumos e no minério exercem influência significativa no processo de difusão das partículas de ferro e na formação de escória, composta principalmente por CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 e MgO. O estudo da influência da escória na microestrutura de pelotas de minério de ferro permite um maior entendimento das principais características relacionadas às fases formadas, que afetarão diretamente sua resistência física e comportamento metalúrgico. Neste trabalho abordamos a influência da variação nos teores de CaO e SiO2 na estrutura das pelotas com o objetivo de verificar a interferência desses compostos na diminuição da energia livre superficial e crescimento de grão bem como na distribuição de porosidade e formação de fases como hematita, sílicatos, ferritos e, eventualmente, a magnetita. Para tal avaliação, pelotas com diferentes teores de escória passaram por caracterização química, análises em Microscópio Óptico e análises em Microscópio Eletrônico de Varredura.

Aug 1, 2018

By Jeremy Fletcher

In today’s world, the requirement of Steel Producers to revamp and modernize their blast furnaces on-time, safely and with the latest technology is paramount. In addition they must meet the detailed design, construction and safety legislation and regulations, which can be different for the various countries around the world. Siemens MT is renowned for its ability to perform Blast Furnace rebuilds, relines and modernisations within extremely tight time frames and in a safe manner. Modular Blast Furnace construction concepts have been perfected to minimise project duration and plant downtime for furnace rebuilds. Safety and certainty are the keys for success. Siemens MT are constantly introducing new technologies into the market place including cyclone gas cleaning and triple external cone gas scrubber, along with step changes in technology such as dry gas cleaning and dry slag granulation. The economic environment and the continuing requirement for improved environmental performance, drive many of these innovations. This paper describes some of the latest rebuild reference projects of Siemens MT, along with the latest technical innovations installed on these furnaces, and some of the construction methodology used for a safe and secure rebuild.

Aug 1, 2018

By Sebastien Flament

More and more Hot Strip Mills are facing defects on their products that lead to a rejection of complete product batches by their customers. Several of those defects are induced by excessive work roll degradation. This paper is focussed on the understanding of work roll corrosion and oxidation mechanisms in a hot strip mill. Several laboratory trials (Hot rolling simulator, cyclic oxidation) have highlighted important factors influencing corrosion of work rolls as well as helping the understandings of oxidation of a work roll in the roll bite and along the roll circumference in a stand. The attention is focussed on several elements present in water used in HSM for direct roll cooling (e.g. chloride, bactericides, sulphates, phosphates) and their effect on roll surface degradation. The second part of this paper is focused on the understanding of work roll oxidation along the roll circumference. The effects of roll composition, roll temperature, water composition and water temperature have been studied in order to understand the oxidation/corrosion mechanisms in a HSM.

Aug 16, 2017

By Heidy de Oliveira Simões

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as correlações entre o IPM (Índice de Permeabilidade Magnética) das pelotas queimadas, as trincas formadas durante o processamento das pelotas no pelotamento/endurecimento e o FeO de cada amostra. As análises evidenciaram que o tipo de trinca presente na pelota impacta no IPM fazendo diminuir a correlação entre IPM e FeO. O entendimento do fenômeno possibilitou desenvolver uma metodologia para determinação de um parâmetro que pudesse ser correlacionado ao FeO das pelotas de minério de ferro, estendendo sua aplicação ao pellet feed, baseado nas propriedades magnéticas do material. O método consiste em medir a variação da indutância de um solenoide, provocada pela introdução do material que se deseja determinar o parâmetro no núcleo de uma bobina, determinando-se relativamente a permeabilidade magnética das pelotas e pellet feed. Para tal, foi definida uma metodologia nas quais alterações devidas à variação da densidade da amostra, causadas principalmente devido a trincas nas pelotas, sejam mitigadas, garantindo a repetibilidade dos resultados. Assim, foi possível a determinação do FeO das amostras através da medição deste novo parâmetro, de forma mais rápida, fácil e com um custo consideravelmente menor que na química analítica clássica.

Aug 1, 2018

By Liao Jianfeng

The Baosteel Zhanjiang 5,050m3 blast furnaces have been built with highly independent integration and innovation technologies and represented the state of the art of the world’s huge BFs. The proper of BF1 and BF2 is designed with long-campaign technology; both BFs share the same set of stockhouse, water and PCI systems; the BCQS serial-hopper no-bell top, TRT and blower are all local equipment as applied; four top-combustion stoves systems are matched; the BFG is cleaned by fully dry process; and the automation control system for the main process is self integrated. The BFs have been started up and performing with sound indicators. Their smooth proceedings symbolize China’s huge blast furnace ironmaking technology ascending a new high.

Oct 30, 2017

By Bruno Aguiar do Prado

Atividades industriais, especialmente relacionadas ao segmento de MMM, têm força econômica considerável além de significativa relevância no cotidiano da população. Neste contexto a disseminação da importância do uso sustentável dos recursos energéticos vem sendo um grande destaque. Diante da necessidade em se atingir a eficiência energética de forma plena, a indústria tem investido em infraestrutura e equipamentos que tem o objetivo de disponibilizar as informações de consumos e demandas de equipamentos e linhas de produção através de medidores inteligentes e conectividade entre as "ilhas" de informação espalhadas no site. A fim de relacionar e disponibilizar os dados obtidos e transformá-los em informação existem diversos softwares com a capacidade de gerar e correlacionar KPIs e análises, evidenciando gaps, direcionando melhorias e até mesmo dar suporte à priorização de investimentos. Esse tipo de abordagem é de extrema importância para que se possam alcançar economias significativas para todas as operações do segmento de MMM.

Aug 16, 2017

By Andrew Slifka, Pello Uranga, Douglas Glenn Stalheim

Structural steel final mechanical properties of strength and ductility are predominately generated by the final ferrite grain size/packet size and homogeneity of that ferrite grain size/packet size through the cross-sectional area. Forty to seventy percent of the strength components come from how fine the final cross-sectional ferrite grain size/packet size that can be produced.[1] All the ductility properties of structural steels for a given microstructure are predominately driven by how fine AND homogenous the final cross-sectional ferrite grain size/packet size can be refined.[2,3,4] One key ductility property of structural steels used in construction and energy transmission applications is fatigue. Both low and high cycle fatigue can be realized in these end applications, however, low cycle fatigue is typically the predominate mechanism. In construction applications the environment for fatigue is typically air, such as in wind towers or high-rise building construction. In energy applications, there is an interest in high pressure (5.5 – 21 MPa, 800-3000 psi) gaseous hydrogen as an alternative fuel source to fossil fuels. A project to study the effect of the cross-sectional grain size/homogeneity of a relatively pure polygonal ferrite microstructure on the fatigue performance in air and high-pressure gaseous hydrogen has been developed. This paper will discuss the project strategy, microstructure developed for the project and initial test results.

Oct 1, 2019