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By Gilberto Álvares da Silva

New elements have been inserted in NiTi lately, resulting in ternary alloys with specific characteristics beyond Shape Memory Effect and Superelasticity. Among all others alloying elements, the Ag additions itself gives potential antibacterial activity to that smart material. So on, the elaboration procedures of ternary NiTiAg alloys was studied in order to obtain a melting procedure to ensure further studies on this alloy. Microstructural and thermal analyses were used to evaluate the VAR-remelting production of NiTiAg with 4.0% wt silver content. The microstructure is composed by a NiTi matrix, pure Ag precipitates, and, scarcely, TiC inclusions. Heat treatments at high temperature could not dilute those Ag particles, but could lead to the precipitation of new ones. The silver element reduces the temperature of the martensitic transformation, yielding a material with superelastic behavior, beyond induces the R-phase on cooling stage of this alloy.

Aug 8, 2018

By Lucas Gonçalves Generoso

O sopro de ar quente representa uma parcela significativa da energia do processo de um alto-forno. Os regeneradores são os equipamentos responsáveis pela elevação da temperatura do ar soprado via ventaneiras. O presente trabalho aborda uma diagnose de eficiência energética realizada nos regeneradores do Alto-Forno 3 da Usiminas. Contempla uma avaliação detalhada nos parâmetros de combustão envolvidos, sendo identificados diversos pontos para melhoria da eficiência energética do processo. Assim, foi proposto um plano de trabalho objetivando explorar estas oportunidades. Os resultados obtidos garantiram uma maior estabilidade nos controles operacionais, refletindo numa melhora significativa do consumo de combustíveis e possibilitando uma redução média de 44,1 Mcal/tgusa.

Oct 30, 2017

By Luigi Giacomini, Bruce Kiefer

A new plant for special steel long products was commissioned in recent years at Dangjin, South Korea, for Hyundai Steel. Two multi-line rolling mills can produce yearly 1 million tons of billets, straight and coiled bars, with dimensions from 5.5 to 350 millimeters. The products are used for manufacturing engine and transmission components used by Hyundai Kia Automotive Group. The processed grades include carbon, special alloy, spring, bearing and free-cutting steel. The first mill rolls blooms into finished large round and square products, as well as into intermediate billets. A 2-high reversing breakdown stand is followed by a finishing and sizing train with CGA stands equipped with an under-load roll parting system for automatic gap control. The second mill combines lines of small bars, rods and bars-in-coil. Billets are rolled in a continuous rolling mill with original RedRing Series 5 stands. The rod outlet features Morgan No-Twist and Rod Reducing/Sizing mills, Morgan High-Speed Laying Head and Stelmor conveyor. Advanced sensors and electronics integrate with mechatronic packages, thus equipping the mill for Industry 4.0 applications. Hyundai can meet the demanding requirements posed by the automotive industry and benefit from optimized conversion costs, the flexibility to meet market changes, achieve high product quality, and reduce floor personnel.

Oct 1, 2019

By Sébastien Gérardin

Developed for more than 30 years, continuously improved, cored wire is nowadays a reliable solution for the improvement of sustainability, safety, health and doing quality and cost saving. Cored wire allows the addition of ferroalloys and treatment of liquid steel, especially concerning the calcium treatment. Amongst all the processes in secondary metallurgy, calcium treatment is certainly the most critical one before casting. Besides the traditional CaSi and CaFe wires, new types of wire have been designed for becoming the new reference in calcium treatment. PapCal (calcium insulated wire) and HDx (high density calcium wire) are a very versatile range of products. Indeed, according to the steelmaking process parameters (steel grade, treatment temperature, ladle size, calcium content targeted in tundish and even injection conditions), their technical specifications may be adapted in order to optimize the calcium treatment as high as possible.

Aug 16, 2017

By Zhisong Chai, Wei Xu

Q&P steels undergo continuous multiple processes, including hot rolling, intermediate heat treatment, cold rolling and continuous annealing etc. The inheritant effect of initial microstructure could affect the final microstructure and mechanical properties of Q&P steels. In this work, effects of different hot rolled microstructure/texture on the final microstructure and properties subjected to Q&P process were investigated in Fe-0.38C-1.58Mn-1.6Si system. Different initial microstructures were generated combing different TMCP and cooling strategies. The microstructure and texture of hot rolled materials were characterized in detail. The hot rolled material was subsequently processed by intermediate annealing, cold rolling and continuous annealing. The comparison reveals great effects of the initial hot rolled microstructures, i.e. inheritance effect. The faster reverse transformation would lead to more sufficient austenitization and it would greatly weaken the inheritant effect of the initial microstructure. Although the difference of final phase fraction for different initial microstructures was not significant, the inheritance effect was mainly reflected in the effect on austenite morphology. For the mechanical properties, no obvious difference in strength was shown for the samples with different initial microstructures after Q&P heat treatment, but there was fluctuation in elongation.

Oct 1, 2019

By Jörg Thomasberger

Delivering liquid steel to a steel processing unit at right temperature is an important criterion for high production steel shops, but it is surprising how little attention has been paid in the past to manage this vital phase in the steelmaking process-the steel in transit. The ladle running costs, both directly and indirectly, contribute significantly to the cost of steelmaking and should be an area of concern to any high production steel plant. Here we are talking not only of refractory costs or preheating fuel costs, but also cost of extra heating in ladle furnace, additional process delays incurred in delivering steel at right temperature to downstream unit in case proper care is not exercised at upstream unit, and occasional costs of ladle breakout due to inability to judge the residual life of the ladle. This paper emphasizes the need of a comprehensive ladle management system, an aspect which has not been properly addressed in the operations of a steel plant, in improving the productivity of a steel melt shop. Starting with review of present status and the attempts at implementation of ladle tracking in steel melt shop automation system, it looks at components of an exhaustive Ladle Management System (LMS), and finally gives an idea of benefits that will accrue from implementation of such a system in a steel melt shop.

Aug 17, 2017

By Priscila Graziela Melo Martins

O tamanho de grão austenítico é um parâmetro que influencia o desempenho de tratamentos térmicos em aços, assim como suas propriedades. Neste contexto, este trabalho investigou o uso de um reativo para ataque por imersão (240ml de água destilada, 2ml de HCl, 2g de ácido pícrico e 5 gotas de detergente neutro) para avaliar a influência da temperatura e do tempo de austenitização sobre o tamanho de grão austenítico de um aço ABNT1045 austenitizado nas temperaturas de 860ºC, 950ºC e 1100ºC por intervalos de tempo de 40, 90 e 180 minutos. As amostras austenitizadas foram temperadas em água, metalograficamente preparadas e atacadas com o reativo proposto com o objetivo de se revelar os antigos contornos de grãos austeníticos. Os tamanhos de grãos foram medidos com a utilização do software UMIAS de forma a possibilitar a determinação de distribuições estatísticas com quinhentas medidas para cada condição de tratamento. As amostras foram novamente preparadas e então atacadas com Nital 2%, sendo possível avaliar a influência do tamanho de grão austenítico sobre a morfologia da martensita. Pôde-se observar que, para o aço ABNT1045, a influência da temperatura de austenitização sobre o tamanho de grão austenítico é muito evidente e mais significativa do que a do tempo. Os valores de tamanho de grão se mostraram exponencialmente dependentes da temperatura, de forma que quanto maior o tamanho de grão austenítico, mais grosseira é a estrutura martensítica e menor é a dureza do material após a têmpera em água.

Aug 7, 2018

By Davide Onesti

Electrode regulation is the technology at the heart of the AC and DC Electric Arc Furnace. As such, in the last decade it underwent continuous improvement to maximize the EAF performances, in terms of process efficiency, machine utilization and operator safety. Given this background, Danieli Automation’s efforts in the field of electrode regulation have been focused on fast response to scrap cave-in, compensation of supply variations, automatic resonance detection, transformer protection, dynamic regulation of the electrical and chemical set-points, coordination and control of slagging and foaming agents, arc irradiance supervision. An extensive analysis of operator utilization and feedback was also carried out to develop an innovative system HMI. In this field, the choice of the variables shown to the user is the key aspect to allow a prompt process evaluation by the operator, who can refer to a condensed set of useful data. This paper will describe the innovative features and embedded models of the electrode regulation module (Q-REG+) and the supervision HMI, together with the effects of their application on EAF process efficiency and system usability.

Oct 30, 2017

By Jan Krull

A high productive coke making process in connection with stringent emission control has clearly become a demand of plant operators and stakeholders. Further to this, availability, quality and coal costs are key concerns for the iron and steel industry in its efforts to optimize raw material cost. Today, the optimization of raw material cost in integrated steel works has further gained priority. Coking coal reflects up to 20% of the cost of steel. In top charged batteries coal preparation and blending is one of the concerns to lower coal cost by maximizing the percentage of non-coking coals in the blend. Stamp charging technology is technologically and economically an effective solution in the process of pre-carbonisation. Paul Wurth’s jumbo top charged oven as well as proven stamp charging technology have recently set new benchmarks in Europe, India and Brazil in terms of productivity, stability and emission control.

Aug 1, 2018

By Jens Kempken

A competitive landscape pressurizes the steel producers business, zero defect requirements from customers forces the operators for additional efforts in process control and quality management. The so called quality related cost, which include also rework, cost for downgrading or even scabbing of material is already a remarkable lever in a plants profitability breakdown. The introduction of advanced state of the art grades in the product portfolio requires already a budgeting for the expenses for R&D and quality management. PQA has been developed as a process and quality management software solution next to existing level 2 or level 3 automation systems. It is focusing on the analysis of process data, equipment information, in line quality measurement devices and trend analysis to obtain an answer whether the process is according to definition and expectation and whether the intermediate or final product can be shipped for further processing as prime material. Advanced analytics which are linked to an expert know how based configuration identifies deficiencies in the production and processing process. An intelligent, state of the art quality rating system evaluates tolerable deviations. PQA comprises the software platform including the database, data configurator and collector from the different sources in the production process and units. The core element of the platform is the knowledge based expert know how package defining process and quality determining fundamentals. The paper describes the structure of the software package, it gives insights on the expert know how package, process and quality evaluation and points out the customer benefits, cost reduction, improvement yield, customer satisfaction increase. The link to recent operational references is given.

Oct 30, 2017

By Ricardo Filipe Teixeira Moreira

O trabalho mostra um estudo de caso da ArcelorMittal Tubarão onde, com o objetivo de incrementar a reciclagem de escórias de dessulfuração, foram analisadas as influências do processo de beneficiamento por separação magnética de forma a obter um coproduto com menor presença de S e maior concentração de Fe e assim permitir sua maior reutilização na Sinterização. O projeto se desenvolveu em etapas de amostragem, caracterização, testes experimentais de laboratório, processamento em escala industrial e, por fim, com a adição do coproduto na Sinterização e compilação de resultados. O trabalho conclui a viabilidade de alteração das configurações de processamento com resultados positivos permitindo incremento de consumo de escórias de dessulfuração na Sinterização com ganhos financeiros e ambientais.

Aug 16, 2017

By Bianka Nani Venturelli

Estudou-se o efeito do tamanho de grão austenítico nas propriedades de tração do aço Hadfield refinado com Hf. Estas propriedades foram comparadas com as de um aço Hadfield sem refino, ambos com a composição química de acordo com a norma ASTM A128 – grau B2. Adicionalmente, foram usadas técnicas de caracterização macroestrutural, microestrutural e fractográfica. A caracterização macroestrutural mostrou que o aço Hadfield com adição de Hf apresentou tamanho do grão austenítico (600 ?m) aproximadamente cinco vezes menor do que o do aço Hadfield sem refino (3000 ?m). Os resultados do ensaio de tração mostraram um pequeno aumento (~6%) no valor do limite de escoamento com o refino do grão, em acordo com a Equação de Hall-Petch para materiais austeníticos. No entanto, os resultados dos ensaios de tração do aço Hadfield refinado mostraram aumentos que não foram previstos para as propriedades de resistência à tração (~37%), alongamento (~53%) e tenacidade (~88%). O exame fractográfico dos corpos de prova de tração indicou predominância do mecanismo de fratura dúctil para o aço Hadfield sem refino, enquanto que o aço Hadfield refinado apresentou predominância do mecanismo de fratura intergranular dúctil.

Oct 30, 2017

By Robert Horwood, Richard Harvey

The copper stave was a development of the Blast Furnace cooling system intended to utilise the high heat transfer properties of copper within a fully covered shell cooling solution. They were originally conceived as being able to provide a permanent cooling lining for use primarily in the higher heat zones of the Blast Furnace. Despite a large number of campaign successes around the world the everlasting concept has not proven universal, with some plants having suffered issues in two particular areas: stave bending (leading to water leaks at back of the stave) and stave wear (erosion on the hot face). Primetals Technologies have in the past been approached to provide assistance to a number of Blast Furnace operators who were experiencing operational issues with the copper stave furnace cooling systems of others. Through knowledge gained resolving these issues, and with the positive experiences of their own copper stave designs, Primetals Technologies have worked towards developing a new concept in copper stave design capable of providing a more robust solution to cope with the greater productivities of modern ironmaking. This paper will provide an outline to the concepts that have driven the design of this new technology.

Oct 1, 2019

By Michael Windhager

UltimaTM rolls have been designed for intermediate and finishing stands of rod and bar and small and medium section mills. The rolls and rings are spun cast, with a highly alloyed working layer and a tough nodular iron core. Microstructure and hardness level can be adjusted over a wide range, which allows us to adapt the rolls to differing rolling conditions. After introducing the UltimaTM concept, this paper will describe the results of UltimaTM rolls achieved in various mill applications, like finish rolling of rebar, and slitting. Special emphasis is given to performance gains when using UltimaTM rolls, compared to standard rolls. This paper also examines the impact of UltimaTM rolls on mill and roll shop productivity.

Jul 30, 2018

By Antonio Esposito

Saving energy and reducing resource’s consumption by minimizing emissions are today great challenges in the coking industry worldwide. In order to achieve satisfying results, equipment as well as technology should be continuously improved and designed to minimize the energy requirements and to maximize the recovery of materials and energy. The sensible heat in coke pushed out of oven chamber takes up 35 ÷ 40 % of energy consumption of coke oven. Usually the coke thermal energy is lost during traditional coke wet quenching, necessary to reduce the coke temperature for the storage and the following use in steelmaking processes. BPSL CDQ project is a sample how Paul Wurth’s technology allows to reach the energy saving goal and offers an alternative to traditional quenching. With the adoption of Coke Dry Quenching process, a considerable amount of this sensible heat in the coke can be recovered by producing steam; its production depends on various parameters, some of them battery related (Volatile Matters in red hot coke) and others CDQ system related (coke burning losses, superheated steam characteristics (i.e. P,T)), greatly depending also on boiler efficiency (heat exchange efficiency, insulation of the boiler itself, air leakage, etc.). The adoption of CDQ process reduces also the water consumptions in comparison with traditional quenching.

Aug 16, 2017

By Simon Chiartano

A global reflection on the design of blast furnace main runner was investigated in this paper. TRB Company used its skills and expertise to understand what the best option for this sensitive component is, including some innovative tools: intelligent block design for safety lining, thermal & thermomechanical numerical simulation, immersive measurement by thermocouples, IR thermal camera, 3D laser scanner.

Oct 1, 2019

By Nicolás Ariel Zabala

During the make-up and break-out of the connections, threaded joints are exposed to intense mechanical and tribological solicitations. The connection performance is influenced by its geometry, material properties, surface treatments and thread compound. The aim of this work is to evaluate and characterize the tribological behavior of different thread compounds applied on manganese phosphated carbon steel under low speed and high pressure sliding contact. Four thread compounds were evaluated: one containing lead, zinc and graphite; other lead-free, containing copper and finally, the last two lead-free and containing non-metallic solids. The tribological behavior was analyzed by a block-on-ring tribotest. During the test, load varied linearly between 250 N and 7000 N; loading and unloading lasted 14 sec and were performed in opposite directions of rotation to simulate the make-up and break-out operations. Friction force and load as a function of time were registered. Upon completion of the test, wear surfaces were analyzed by SEM, optical microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The obtained results show that the lead and zinc containing thread compound displayed the best behavior, showing a wear reduction of approximately 20%. These results are in line with previously known oilfield experience. Average COF values around 0.15 were measured and no significant differences between dopes were observed; indicating that the wear behavior was influenced by the additive package.

Jul 31, 2018

By Marcos Paulo da Silveira, Carolina Conter Elgert, Messias Prado de Almeida, Rafael Stella Galdino

Microalloyed steels have been intensely studied as an alternative to increase strength by grain refinement and/or precipitation hardening. Long steel products have a wide range of opportunities to apply well-defined principles of controlled rolling (CR) in order to increase strength and toughness with reduced costs. To evaluate the effect of microalloying elements as Nb and Ti with thermomechanical treatment, three conditions were tested: DIN 16MnCrS5 with hot rolling (HR), DIN 16MnCrS5 with Nb and CR and DIN 16MnCrS5 with Nb+Ti and CR. Austenitic grain size, obtained by direct quenching after rolling, has shown a decrease 32% with Nb addition, and 29% when Nb and Ti was added. Controlled rolling generated higher grain refinement and pancacked grains near the surface. When comparing ferritic grain size, controlled rolling plus niobium and titanium additions resulted in significant reduction of 35%. Yield strength increased 15% with microalloying and CR and more than 270% in impact toughness, even at -40°C.

Oct 1, 2019

By Luís Carlos da Silva

As fibras lignocelulósicas naturais são cada vez mais utilizadas como reforço em compósitos de matriz polimérica devido a vantagens econômicas e ambientais como serem renováveis e biodegradáveis. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a influência de 10, 20 e 30% em volume de tecido de malva na resistência à tração de compósitos preparados submetidos à 5 toneladas de pressão. O tecido natural foi previamente lavado e seco à temperatura ambiente, depois disposto em uma matriz metálica com formato ósseo, em seguida, uma resina de poliéster (misturada com catalisadores) é vertida sobre o tecido dentro da matriz, o conjunto é transportado a uma prensa e submetido a 5 toneladas de carga. Observou-se que a resistência à tração cresceu significativamente com o aumento da quantidade de tecido natural de malva incorporado na matriz de poliéster. Esta melhora no desempenho pode ser diretamente associado à dificuldade de romper o tecido malva e ao tipo de trincas resultantes da interação do tecido de malva com a matriz.

Oct 30, 2017

By Edney da Silva Dias, Leticia Fuchs, Walter Coan, Rodrigo Deperon, Eduardo Kuhl, Fernanda Jansen, Micael Leandro

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um projeto desenvolvido para maximizar a taxa de ocupação dos veículos que carregam na ArcelorMittal Vega, por meio da utilização de programação linear combinada com métodos de automação de processos robóticos (RPA - Robotic Process Automation), de modo a atender todas as premissas do modelo de expedição de cargas, tais como: restrições de clientes, capacidade máxima por tipo de veículo e distribuição de volumes para as transportadoras de acordo com as metas acordadas. O uso de ferramentas de otimização e automação, integradas ao ERP (Sistema Integrado de Gestão Empresarial), utilizado pela empresa, permite realizar o processo de programação de transportes em massa, obedecendo multicritérios. A ausência de ferramentas que auxiliem neste processo, impacta diretamente na produtividade, na capacidade intelectual dos recursos alocados, na taxa de ocupação dos veículos, na capacidade de expedição da fábrica e no nível de serviço ao cliente. Visando aumentar a eficiência nos processos, melhorar a taxa de ocupação da capacidade dos veículos e consequentemente a capacidade de expedição, foi implementada a solução para aperfeiçoar o processo de programação de cargas e agregar valor ao negócio quanto a entrega ao cliente final.

Oct 1, 2019