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Electron‐probe microanalysis: some applications in the assessment of steel product quality
Author(s) -
Ray Amitava,
Dhua Sanjay K.,
Jha Sudhaker
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4539(199901/02)28:1<41::aid-xrs307>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - microanalysis , electron probe microanalysis , product (mathematics) , quality (philosophy) , metallurgy , quality assessment , engineering , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , environmental chemistry , chemistry , reliability engineering , electron microprobe , physics , mathematics , evaluation methods , organic chemistry , geometry , quantum mechanics
Electron‐probe microanalysis was employed concurrently withoptical metallography to understand the genesis of surface andinternal defects which are critical to steel product quality.Investigations of surface defects such as ‘slivers’ onhot‐rolled sheets, ‘edge‐cracking’ ofhot‐rolled coils and longitudinal surface cracking of rolledround bars revealed that such defects in finished products are ofteninherited from upstream processing stages and eventually accentuatedin the final stages of processing. Inadequately deoxidized steel witha high gas content, improper casting practices, usage of inferiorquality mould powder and bad reheating practice in respect oftemperature and furnace atmosphere were found to impairsynergistically the quality of finish products. Microprobe analysisof internal defects such as cracks in billets and axialdiscontinuities/cracks in thick steel plates produced fromcontinuously cast slabs elucidated the role of specificmacrosegregation‐causing elements during continuous castingand their ultimate effect in inducing transformation to undesirablemicrostructures which enhance cracking propensity. Some of thesemetallurgical applications where microprobe analysis, bothqualitative and quantitative, has been used for the evaluation ofsteel product quality are described. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.