The Effect of Cooling Rate on the Microstructure
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THE EFFECT OF COOLING RATE ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE CONFIGURATION OF CONTINUOUSLY CAST STEEL SLABS by Mohammad Reza Allazadeh B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Miskolc University, Miskolc, Hungary, 1997 M.S. in Computer Aided Technology Planning, Miskolc University, Miskolc, Hungary, 1999 M. S. in Solid Mechanic Engineering, Brown University, Providence RI, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Swanson School of Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering University of Pittsburgh 2009 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SWANSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING This dissertation was presented by Mohammad Reza Allazadeh It was defended on January 12, 2009 and approved by Dr. Issac C. Garcia, Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Dr. Anthony J DeArdo, Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Dr. Roy D. Marangoni, Emeritus Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Dissertation Director: Dr. Michael R. Lovell, Dean of the College of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ii Copyright © by Mohammad Reza Allazadeh 2009 iii THE EFFECT OF COOLING RATE ON THE MICROSTRUCTURAL CONFIGURATION OF CONTINUOUSLY CAST STEEL SLABS Mohammad Reza Allazadeh, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 This research work is another step for increasing the efficiency and productivity of the steel making process by enhancing both quality and quantity of the steel produced by the Continuous Casting process. When steels cool from a high temperature, austenite transforms into other phase configurations according to the austenite composition and cooling rate. As result of phase transformation, the steel crystal structure and, consequently, both the shape and the lattice parameter of the unit cell, change. These changes may introduce dilatational strains into the microstructure, which result in the creation of residual stress concentration zones within the microstructure. These stress concentration zones are vulnerable regions to the formation of microcracks or growth of the flaws in these regions. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop a method to define the optimum cooling rate for cooling continuously as-cast steel on industrial level. An FEM algorithm developed with the ANSYS codes is introduced in this dissertation to simulate the cooling of as-cast steel from any temperature below the solidification temperature. The algorithm is capable of being customized to simulate the thermodynamic behavior of as-cast steel microstructure with any chemical composition and any casting geometry imposed to desired cooling method. The phase transformation simulations were based on the CCT diagram and, therefore, they were quasi-real models. The models predict, analytically, the generation of the stress concentration regions due to the thermodynamic strains during cooling a iv sample from the austenite temperature range with different cooling rates. Another series of FEM models presented in this dissertation and post non-destructive tests (NDT) ultrasonic image analysis tests suggested in this work, can be used in the discussion of the effect of the cooling rate on the altering of the soundness of the tested steel. A combination of the suggested FEM algorithm and post image processing of NDT ultrasonic images along with laboratory cooling experiments and microstructural analysis provide a guideline to find the cooling rate for each grade of steel in the casting steel industry. Results of JMATPRO software also are deployed to increase the accuracy of the experimental set up and to obtain the required input data to run the proposed numerical algorithm cooling simulation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ XVI 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 BACKGROUND..................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 MICROSTRUCTURE OF STEEL ......................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Microstructural Phases ................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Classification of steel ....................................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Cleanliness of steel ........................................................................................... 9 2.2 SOLIDIFICATION PROCESS IN CONTINUOUS CASTING OF STEEL . 13 2.3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH WORK ........................................................................ 22 2.3.1 Previous studies on the microstructure of steel ........................................ 22 2.3.2 Previous work on detecting the defects ...................................................... 29 2.3.3 Previous studies on the inclusions ............................................................... 30 2.3.3.1 Studies on the effect of inclusions on material properties of the steel ...................................................................................................... 31 2.3.3.2 Previous studies on the inclusion deformation ............................. 35 2.3.4 Previous research on the cooling ................................................................. 38 2.3.5 A review on previous numerical modeling on cooling cast steel ............ 43 3.0 OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................... 49 4.0 GOVERNING EQUATIONS AND RELATED FORMULA TO THE OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................... 52 vi 4.1 HEAT TRANSFER BACKGROUND .................................................................. 52 4.2 STRESSES INTRODUCED DURING COOLING THE AS-CAST SLAB ... 56 4.2.1 Thermal stresses............................................................................................. 61 4.2.2 Volumetric stress ............................................................................................ 63 4.2.3 Internal stresses.............................................................................................. 64 4.2.4 Phase transformation stresses...................................................................... 66 4.2.5 Phases interaction induces stresses ............................................................. 69 4.3 NUMERICAL METHOD FOR COOLING SIMULATION ........................... 71 4.3.1 Phase transformation control ...................................................................... 73 4.3.2 Cooling rate control ....................................................................................... 77 4.3.3 Thermodynamic strain induced control..................................................... 81 5.0 SPECIFYING ANOMALIES CHARACTERIZATION USING THE ULTRASONIC NDT METHOD ....................................................................................... 86 5.1 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE ....................................................................... 86 5.2 LOCATING THE 3-D POSITION OF THE DEFECT .................................... 93 5.3 INVESTIGATION OF DEFECT TYPE.............................................................. 96 5.4 INVESTIGATION OF DEFECT TYPE............................................................ 102 6.0 EFFECT OF INCLUSIONS IN CONTINUOUSLY CAST STEEL MICROSTRUCTURE DURING COOLING ............................................................... 105 6.1 CRACK FORMATION AROUND AN INCLUSION ..................................... 105 6.2 ASPECT RATIO ................................................................................................... 110 6.3 MICROSTRUCTURAL OBSERVATION OF FLAW FORMATION AROUND INCLUSIONS INCLUSION ............................................................. 113 6.4 SIMULATIONS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN INCLUSION AND STEEL MATRIX INCLUSION .......................................................................... 114 7.0 COOLING EXPERIMENTS OF AS-CAST STEEL ................................................... 125 7.1 COOLING EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE ...................................................... 125 vii 7.2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE ..................................................................... 125 7.3 JMATPRO RESULTS .......................................................................................... 130 7.4 AIR COOLING EXPERIMENTS ...................................................................... 135 7.4.1 Steel grade 1010* ......................................................................................... 136 7.4.2 Steel grade 1091* ......................................................................................... 140 7.4.3 Steel grade 1319* ......................................................................................... 142 8.0 FEM ALGORITHM AND VERIFICATION................................................................ 146 8.1 THE NUMERICAL COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHM ............................ 146 8.2 GRAIN BOUNDARY DEFINITION METHODS ........................................... 150 8.3 VERIFICATION OF THE SINGLE PHASE COOLING MODEL ............. 155 9.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................................................... 160 9.1 EFFECT OF THE PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN THE THERMALLY INDUCED STRAIN