Deoxidized steel

Deoxidized steel is steel that has a certain degree of oxygen removed from the melt during the steelmaking process. There are four types, ranging from fully deoxidized to slightly deoxidized: killed, semi-killed, capped, and rimmed.^[1]

Types

Deoxidizing agents are added to the melt either before or after it is tapped. Note that none of the various types are better than the other, but that each is useful in its own regard.^[2]

Killed

Killed steel is steel that has been completely deoxidized by the addition of an agent before casting, so that there is practically no evolution of gas during solidification. They are characterized by a high degree of chemical homogeneity and freedom from gas porosity. The steel is said to be "killed" because it will quietly solidify in the mould, with no gas bubbling out. It is marked with a "K" for identification purposes.^[3]

Common deoxidizing agents include aluminium, ferrosilicon and manganese. Aluminium reacts with the dissolved gas to form aluminium oxide. Aluminium also has the added benefit of forming pin grain boundaries, which prevent grain growth during heat treatments. For steels of the same grade a killed steel will be harder than rimmed steel.^[4]

The main disadvantage killed steels is that it suffers from deep pipe shrinkage defects. To minimize the amount of metal that must be discarded because of the shrinkage, a large vertical mold is used with a hot top. Typical killed-steel ingots have a yield of 80% by weight.^[2]

Commonly killed steels include alloy steels,^[3] stainless steels,^[3] heat resisting steels,^[3] steels with a carbon content greater than 0.25%, steels used for forgings, structural steels with a carbon content between 0.15 and 0.25%, and some special steels in the lower carbon ranges.^[4] It is also used for any steel castings.^[5] Note that as the carbon content decreases the greater the problems with non-metallic inclusions.^[6]

Semi-killed

Semi-killed steel is mostly deoxidized steel, but the carbon monoxide left leaves blowhole type porosity distributed throughout the ingot. The porosity eliminates the pipe found in killed steel and increases the yield to approximately 90% by weight. Semi-killed steel is commonly used for structural steel with a carbon content between 0.15 to 0.25% carbon, because it is rolled, which closes the porosity. It is also used for Drawing_(manufacturing) applications.^[3][7]

Rimmed

Rimmed steel, also known as drawing quality steel, has little^[8] to no deoxidizing agent added to it during casting which causes carbon monoxide to evolve rapidly from the ingot. This causes small blow holes in the surface that are later closed up in the hot rolling process. Another result is the segregation of elements; almost all of the carbon, phosphorus, and sulfur move to the center of the ingot, leaving an almost perfect "rim" of pure iron on the outside of the ingot. This gives the ingot an excellent surface finish because of this iron rim, but also form the most segregated composition. Most rimmed steel has a carbon content below 0.25% carbon, a manganese content below 0.6%, and is not alloyed with aluminum, silicon, and titanium. This type of steel is commonly used for cold-bending, cold-forming, cold-heading and, as the name implies, drawing. Due to the non-uniformity of alloying elements it is not recommended for hot-working applications.^[3][5][7][9]

Capped

Capped steel starts as rimmed steel but part way through the solidification the ingot is capped. This can be done by literally covering the ingot mold or by adding a deoxidizing agent. The top of the ingot then forms into a solid layer of steel, but the rim of the rest of the ingot is thinner than in a rimmed steel. Also there is less segregation of impurities.^[7]

The yield of rimmed and capped steel is slightly better than that of semi-killed steel. These types of steels are commonly used for sheet and strip metal because of their excellent surface condition.^[7] It is also used in most cold-working applications.^[5]

Due to production processes, as the carbon content of rimmed and capped steel increases above 0.08%, the cleanliness decreases.^[10]

See also

• Decarburized steel

References

1. ^ Types of Steel according to deoxidation practice, archived from the original on 2010-02-06, http://www.webcitation.org/5nLr8IkgA, retrieved 2010-02-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b} American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 1951, p. 52.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Types of steel according to deoxidation practice, archived from the original on 2010-02-28, http://www.webcitation.org/5ntSmDbqT, retrieved 2010-02-28. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Steels - Killed Steels, 200-10-14, http://www.azom.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=1697, retrieved 2009-11-17. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Carbon steel, archived from the original on 2010-02-28, http://www.webcitation.org/5ntWIDrKc, retrieved 2010-02-28. 
6. ^ American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 1951, p. 58.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 1951, p. 53.
8. ^ Askeland, Donald R. (1988), The science and engineering of materials, Taylor & Francis, p. 170, ISBN 9780278000575, http://books.google.com/books?id=1j8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA170. 
9. ^ Basics of Arc Welding, archived from the original on 2010-02-28, http://www.webcitation.org/5ntS5Utaf, retrieved 2010-02-28. 
10. ^ American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 1951, pp. 57–58.

Bibliography

• American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (1951), The solidification of metals and alloys, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, http://books.google.com/books?id=4pJTAAAAMAAJ.