Effect of Rare Earth Elements on the Inclusion Behavior in Low Alloy Structural Steel

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of rare earth elements on the behavior of inclusions for low-alloy structural steel production was studied. The results showed that adding rare earth elements after different refining processes had a great impact on the results: (1) When adding rare earth elements after the LF furnace process, the alloy yield was low, and the rare earth inclusions was rare, the pure and coexisted inclusions of rare earth (La & Ce) were found; (2) While added after the RH furnace process, the alloy yield and the amount of rare earth inclusions increased greatly, but only coexisted inclusions of rare earth (La & Ce) were found. Furthermore, the precipitates of Nb and the contents of Al and Mg in the inclusions were also sharply reduced, which indicated that the rare earth element had obvious effect on the denaturation of the inclusions.