Abstract
55SiCr steel is one of the important spring steels widely used in automobile manufacturing. The presence of micro inclusions in the steel can significantly influence a number of spring properties such as fatigue strength. It is important to understand the mechanism of the inclusion formation so that size and proportion of the inclusions can be controlled. Inclusions in Si-killed 55SiCr spring steel have been analysed by scanning electronic microscopy and electron probe X-ray microanalysis. The chemistry of the inclusions observed in 55SiCr steels can be represented by the SiO2–Al2O3–CaO–MgO system. It was found that the compositions of the inclusions cover a wide composition range, which indicates that these inclusions were formed from different reactions. The possible mechanisms of the inclusion formation are discussed. It would be possible to characterize and manage the inclusions in the spring steels deoxidized by Si.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Q.Y. Wang, C. Bathias, N. Kawagoishi, Q. Chen, Effect of inclusion on subsurface crack initiation and gigacycle fatigue strength. Int. J. Fatigue 24(12), 1269–1274 (2002)
H.L. Yang, J.S. Ye, X.L. Wu, Y.S. Peng, Y. Fang, X.B. Zhao, Effect of top slag with low basicity on transformation control of inclusions in spring steel deoxidized by Si and Mn. ISIJ Int. 56(1), 108–115 (2016)
M. Jiang, X. Wang, B. Chen, W. Wang, Laboratory study on evolution mechanisms of non-metallic inclusions in high strength alloyed steel refined by high basicity slag. ISIJ Int. 50(1), 95–104 (2010)
S. Feichtinger, S.K. Michelic, Y.B. Kang, C. Bernhard, In Situ observation of the dissolution of SiO2 particles in CaO–Al2O3–SiO2 slags and mathematical analysis of its dissolution pattern. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 97, 316–325 (2014)
J.W. Kim, S.K. Kim, D.S. Kim, Y.D. Lee, P.K. Yang, Formation mechanism of Ca-Si-Al-Mg-Ti-O inclusions in type 304 Stainless Steel. ISIJ Int. 36(Suppl), S140–S143 (1996)
D.-H. Woo, Y.-B. Kang, H.-G. Lee, Thermodynamic study of MnO-SiO2-Al2O3 slag system: liquidus lines and activities of MnO at 1823 K. Metall. Mater. Trans. B 33(6), 915–920 (2002)
K. Wang, M. Jiang, X. Wang, Y. Wang, H. Zhao, Z. Cao, Formation mechanism of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-(MgO) inclusions in Si-Mn-killed steel with limited aluminum content during the low basicity slag refining. Metall. Mater. Trans. B 47(1), 282–290 (2016)
C.-W. Seo, S.-H. Kim, S.-K. Jo, M.-O. Suk, S.-M. Byun, Modification and minimization of spinel (Al2O3·xMgO) inclusions formed in Ti-added steel melts. Metall. Mater. Trans. B 41(4), 790–797 (2010)
H. Todoroki, K. Mizuno, Effect of silica in slag on inclusion compositions in 304 stainless steel deoxidized with aluminum. ISIJ Int. 44(8), 1350–1357 (2004)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank: (1) financial support from Baosteel through Baosteel-Australia Joint Research and Development Centre; (2) China Scholarship Council (CSC) and The University of Queensland for providing a scholarship for Sha Lv; (3) Mr. Ron Rasch and Ms. Ying Yu of the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (CMM) at the University of Queensland for technical support for EPMA and SEM analyses.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lv, S. et al. (2017). Formation Mechanisms of Inclusions in Spring Steels. In: Hwang, JY., et al. 8th International Symposium on High-Temperature Metallurgical Processing. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51340-9_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51340-9_32
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51339-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51340-9
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)