Effect of Cs2O-containing refining slag on the purity of ultra-clean steel for ultra-fine saw wire

Abstract

The influence of Cs2O-containing refining slag on the purity of steel for ultra-fine saw wire has been studied in this article. The result indicated that a small amount of Cs2O can significantly improve the capability of low-basicity refining slag to purify molten steel. In detail, the number and size of inclusions decreased dramatically when Cs2O was added to the refining slag. Additionally, the composition of most inclusions is controlled within the low melting point region. However, it will reduce the capability of low-basicity refining slag to purify molten steel if the content of Cs2O exceeds 10 wt%. Cs2O changes the ability of low-basicity refining slag to remove inclusions by changing the slag's viscosity and microstructure. The viscosity of refining slag increased gradually with the mass fraction of Cs2O in the slag increasing, and the disparity of viscosity values between different experimental groups increased sharply with temperature decreasing. Furthermore, the viscosity curve of Cs2O-containing slag developed a turning point, that is, the speed of viscosity increasing raised sharply at the turning point, while this phenomenon cannot be found in a normal experiment group without Cs2O. The detection results of the Raman spectrum show that the three-dimensional network of slag increased greatly with the content of Cs2O in the slag increasing gradually.