Coarsening Mechanisms of CaS Inclusions in Ca-Treated Steels

Abstract

In this work, the coarsening mechanisms of CaS inclusions in liquid steel were investigated by analyzing inclusions in experimental and industrial samples. A detailed particle size distribution evolution was reported. The observed CaS coarsening rate was compared with the theoretical coarsening rate calculated by using the models proposed in the literature. For both experimental and industrial data, it was observed that the coarsening mechanisms varied during different stages of Ca treatment. It was found that in the early stage (after Ca addition) of experiments and during Ca addition under industrial conditions, the coarsening of CaS was governed by diffusion-controlled growth. As the Ca dissolved in steel diminished, the coarsening was governed by collision-dependent mechanisms. For experimental conditions, the growth of CaS was controlled by the Brownian collisions, while the coarsening by turbulent collisions was the dominant mechanism under industrial conditions.