Devising Manufacturing Techniques to Control the Process of Zonal Segregation in Large Steel Ingots

A method of physical modeling was applied to study the effect of external actions on the processes of crystallization and the formation of the structure of ingots. A brief review of existing hypotheses about the evolution of physical, structural, and chemical heterogeneities in large steel ingots is given. The parameters of the structure and the two-phase zone have been determined, as well as the nature of the distribution of segregated materials along the cross-section of ingots, depending on the conditions of their curing. The decisive importance of convective and capillary mass transfer in the interdendritic channels of hardening ingots on the formation of a zonal heterogeneity at their cross-section has been proven. Experimentally, when crystallizing a model environment (camphene), it has been visually confirmed that the flow of segregated materials in interdendritic channels occurs when a certain amount of impurities accumulates in them. A clear dependence of the speed of this flow on the rate of melt crystallization has been established. With an increase of the hardened part of the melt, the rate of segregated material movement (Vl) increases while the rate of crystallization (R) decreases due to worsening heat release conditions. At a certain distance from the ingot's surface, these rates become equal, and impurities are carried to the curing border, which is the main cause of the formation of zonal segregation. The results reported here show that the evolution of zonal segregation in ingots can be controlled using various techniques involving external influence on the hardening melt. This study has demonstrated that the adjustable intensity of heat removal from an ingot, as well as the addition of external excess pressure on the hardening melt, could be used as such tools. In the study, to obtain ingots with a minimum level of chemical heterogeneity, it would suffice to provide the following conditions for the curing of the alloy: a value of the alloy crystallization speeds at the level of Rcr ≥ 9·10–2 mm/s, or external pressure on the free surface of ingots Рext. ≥ 135 kPa. The industrial implementation of the reported results could make it possible to improve the technology of obtaining large blacksmith ingots, provide savings in materials and energy resources, increase the yield of a suitable metal, and improve its qualit