Experimental Investigation on Inclusions in Medium Manganese Steels and High Manganese Steels

Abstract

Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) has become a popular steel grade among automakers to produce vehicle bodies. With improvements in strength and elongation, AHSS has evolved to its 2nd generation, including high manganese steel. Even though it has outstanding strength, the 2nd generation of AHSS faces some production problems due to its high alloying elements. With continual improvement, the 3rd generation of AHSS is currently in production. In this generation, the steel types still have a competitive strength and elongation like the 2nd generation of AHSS while having lower alloying element contents and production costs. One of the types of 3rd generation AHSS is medium manganese steel. Research related to the 2nd and 3rd generation of AHSS mainly focuses on their mechanical properties and microstructures. As there is a strong correlation between mechanical properties and inclusion characteristics, further investigation of the evolution of inclusions is still required. In this study, high-temperature experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of metal chemistry on the inclusion evolution in liquid steel. The concentrations of manganese, aluminum, and nitrogen were varied systematically. Two and three-dimensional analysis techniques were applied to study the number, composition, and size distribution of inclusions. Electrolysis extraction was used to identify the oxide, sulfide, and nitride inclusions, whereas an automated SEM with an ASPEX feature was used to detect a larger number of inclusions for better representation of the steel matrix. This work has established inclusion classification rules to distinguish nitride inclusions from oxide inclusions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first discussion of this type of inclusion classification in the open literature. Based on the automated SEM (ASPEX Feature) analysis, the type of detected inclusions in medium and high manganese steels were Al2O3(pure), Al2O3-MnS, AlN(pure), AlN-MnS, AlON, AlON-MnS, and MnS inclusions. As the manganese content in the steel increased from 2% to 20%, the total amount of inclusions, especially AlN-contained inclusions, was raised. This phenomenon occurred due to the increase in nitrogen solubility with increased manganese content in the steel. The thermodynamic calculation also predicted that AlN inclusions would form when the steel was cooled or during the solidification. Moreover, AlN and MnS inclusions were observed to co-precipitate together. Similar to manganese, the increase in the aluminum content (Al = 0.5-6%) increased the total amount of inclusions in the steel, and the dominant inclusion type is AlN. AlN and Al2O3 inclusions can be heterogenous nucleation sites for MnS inclusions. Furthermore, Al2O3 inclusions also became heterogeneous nucleation sites for AlN inclusions. The experimental set-up was further modified to investigate the effect of nitrogen on the formation of inclusions in the medium manganese steels. The nitrogen was introduced by purging or injecting N2 gas into the steel system. Similar to the effect of manganese and aluminum, the increase in the nitrogen content also increased the total amount of inclusions. Once the nitrogen content in the steel exceeded the critical limit for the formation of AlN inclusions, AlN inclusions can be stable in the liquid steel. Moreover, regardless of the nitrogen content in the steel, AlN-MnS inclusions were formed in the slow-cooled steels. In terms of morphology, AlN inclusions can be formed of plate-like, needle, angular, agglomerate, or irregular shapes. Furthermore, a brief investigation on the addition of calcium and nitrogen to the medium manganese steels found that calcium led to the formation of other complex inclusions, such as CAx and CAS-Other inclusions. In the medium manganese steel composition in the present study, the number of CAS-Other inclusions was dominated by (Ca,Mn)S-Oxide inclusions after the addition of Ca. However, with time and after introducing N2 gas into the steel, the number of (Ca,Mn)S-Nitride inclusions also increased. The formation of (Ca,Mn)S-Nitride inclusions resulted from the co-precipitation of CaS, MnS, and AlN. The current work provides a better understanding of the formation mechanism of inclusions in medium manganese steels and high manganese steels. It presents complete information on the characteristics of inclusions, such as the number density, type, and morphology of inclusions. This knowledge can help steelmakers improve the steelmaking process to control the formation of inclusions, which can be problematic for the manufacture and performance of medium manganese steels and high manganese steels.