Shandong Science

   

Distribution of micron inclusions in steel and their impact on its mechanical properties

WANG Zhengci1,LIU Long1,TIAN Linan1*,LIU Zhe2,SUN Wei2,LIU Yongchao2,WEN Peijian2,ZHANG Qing2   

  1. 1.Shandong Analysis and Test Center, Qilu University of Technology(Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250014, China; 2.Research and Development Department, Jinlei Technology Co., Ltd., Jinan 271104, China
  • Received:2025-01-15 Accepted:2025-02-19 Online:2025-10-24
  • Contact: TIAN Linan E-mail:tianln1206@qlu.edu.cn

Abstract: Under the current technological conditions, inclusions have become inevitable in steel. To investigate the impact of micron-sized inclusions on the mechanical properties of metals, vacuum arc melting was used to control the mass fractions (contents) of micron Al?O? powder at 0%, 0.2%, 0.6%, 1%, and 2%, thereby preparing samples with different contents of micron-sized inclusions. Statistical analysis of inclusion sizes via computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that most inclusions had a size of <5 μm. Moreover, the quantity of inclusions proportionally increased with increasing Al?O? content. Mechanical properties were tested using the indentation method; the test results indicated that the addition of a certain amount of micron-sized inclusions can enhance the mechanical performance of a metal. However, when the Al?O? content exceeded 1%, the tensile strength increase slowed down and the yield strength decreased. SEM observations revealed that at high Al?O? content, inclusions tended to agglomerate into large inclusions or clusters, which caused local stress concentration. This phenomenon in turn negatively affected the strengthening effect of the micron-sized inclusions on the mechanical properties of the investigated metal.

Key words: micron-sized inclusions, inclusion statistics, scanning electron microscopy, indentation method, mechanical properties

CLC Number: 

  • TB302

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