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By Steven George Jansto

The hot ductility behavior of different microalloyed steel chemical compositions was examined simulating the thermal and strain conditions through the straightening or unbending section of the continuous casting machine. All samples were obtained from industrial slab casters ranging from 200 to 300 mm in slab thickness from steel mills throughout the world including China, Brazil, North America and Europe. The slabs were crack-free and hot rolled into prime quality products. No laboratory heats were tested. Although these microalloyed steels exhibit inherently lower hot ductility behavior, as measured by percent reduction in area at elevated temperature, these steels still exhibit sufficient ductility to satisfactorily meet the unbending stress and strain gradients existing in the straightening section of most casters. The majority of the published hot ductility data, as measured by % reduction in area (%RA), were based on laboratory heats and hence, are inaccurate in accessing the propensity for slab cracking on an industrial caster. This situation then results in invalid conclusions for different chemistries. This research has determined the minimum required %RA for crack-free casting is significantly lower than results based upon previously published laboratory generated data. For example, the literature quotes 40% RA minimum for Nb-bearing steels when in fact as low as 10% minimum RA is more than sufficient to assure crack-free casting based upon the extensive testing and analysis performed in this study. Instead of %RA, the measurement of strain energy has been introduced to evaluate hot ductility behavior. It is concluded that strain energy is a better measure of hot ductility behaviour than %RA. There is considerable value in the evaluation of the hot stress and strain curves, process metallurgy parameters and their relationship to slab quality instead of just basing hot ductility decisions on simple %RA measurements.

Aug 16, 2017

By Božidar Šarler, Umut Hanoglu

A rolling simulation system has been developed to calculate the macroscopic rate of deformation, stress, strain, and temperature fields by using a novel meshless method. The model is based on two-dimensional traveling slice assumption. The slices are aligned towards the rolling direction. The initial size of the billet, bloom or slab and the geometry of the grooves at each rolling stand, the distances between the rolling stands, and continuous or reverse rolling can be arbitrarily considered. The purpose of this paper is to complement these development by predicting and visualizing also the grain size of steel over the strand cross-section for each position in the rolling mill. The grain size models have been in one-way coupled to the macroscopic calculations. First the critical strain for dynamic recrystallization is being checked. If the calculated strain is higher than that, considering also the time for meta-dynamic recrystallization, dynamic or meta-dynamic grain size calculations are carried out. If the strain is too low then only the static recrystallization is considered together with its required time. Finally, austenite grain size and ferrite grain size are calculated respectively as the steel cools down. The listed physical models are based on collection of empirical relations found in literature. The user of the system is free to choose or create the model he wants with his own parameters. The simulation system has been coded as a user friendly computer application for an industrial use based on C# and .NET framework and runs on regular PCs. The computational time for a rolling simulation is usually less than one hour and can thus be straightforwardly used for optimization of the rolling mill design in a reasonable time.

Oct 1, 2019

By Moisés Paulo Teixeira

The use of tailings for the synthesis of new materials is a worldwide concern today. This paper approaches the utilization of tailings of soapstone (steatite) in order to produce ceramics. The results show that the addition of soapstone in a ratio over 20% in the ceramic mass has enhanced the bending resistance of the ceramic samples when they were fired at temperatures of 900°C or 1000°C.

Oct 30, 2017

By Luiz Afonso Andrade, Pablo Amâncio de Freitas, Ana Patrícia Andrade Jaccard, Eduardo Cezar Ribeiro, Ana Christina Pitard Lima, Rodrigo Ribeiro de Souza

A análise dos carvões em mistura é de suma importância para redução dos custos e controle de qualidade de uma coqueria, esse trabalho trata da influência da cominuição comum de carvões de diferentes ranks, assim como suas implicações no processo de amostragem e consequentes desvios nas análises. O processo de produção da mistura de carvões na Ternium Brasil possuía um desvio não rastreado entre matéria volátil resultante da amostragem automática da mistura de carvões e a matéria volátil esperada pelo resultado da média ponderada dos carvões individuais no recebimento, para tal foram estudadas todas as etapas do processo de produção da mistura de carvões desde a variação dos carvões em pilha, escoamento em silos e na etapa anterior e posterior a britagem. Os dados foram comparados e foi feito um plano de ação para redução do desvio.

Oct 1, 2019

By Nigel Marx

In order to understand (and ultimately to predict) the friction reduction resulting from the use of polymer solutions, the rheological properties of model polymer solutions have been measured over a wide range of shear rates. Both temporary and permanent shear thinning have been observed. By using base fluids of different viscosities it has been shown that permanent shear thinning depends more closely on the shear stress experienced by the fluid than on the strain rate. Hydrodynamic measurements have been made on the polymer solutions using a compliant ball on flat lubricated contact that operates in isoviscous-elastic conditions. The measured friction values can only be predicted with reasonable accuracy if the measured shear thinning properties of the lubricant are taken into account in the hydrodynamic model.

Jul 31, 2018

By Andrea Zanon

Recently steel manufacturers have significantly focused their attention on safety and working conditions thanks to new labour laws, comprehensive operators’ knowledge and increased company social responsibility. Even with a reduced budget, investments on safety are now widely approved. Mill constructors aim at developing upgraded solutions to comply with these new requirements. In some cases mill constructors can even anticipate customers’ requests and consequently put into the market innovative solutions. In this text we will analyze some advanced solutions developed by Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche Spa - the leading company in long-product rolling mills - aimed at improving working conditions on wire-rod block settings. In particular, we will focus on rolling guides installed on fast-finishing blocks and on servo-assisted device for rolling rings changing. In fact, this equipment has shown effective benefits on our test plants and has mainly cut out the tendency of the personnel to be absent due to backache. This paper will first present standard working conditions, will then introduce the newest equipment developed by Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche Spa, will analyze its operation and finally will describe in detail the benefits that can be reached with its use.

Jul 30, 2018

By Dagoberto Brandão Santos, Kairo de Barros Guimarães, Túlio Magno Füzessy de Melo

The effect of the cooling conditions on the microstructure and hardness of a Dual Phase hot-rolled steel 800 MPa strength was investigated. Simulations of the cooling conditions using a dilatometer were carried out from samples of a hot rolled coil with variations of the intermediary temperature from 620 to 740°C, isothermal holding time between 1 and 10 s and coiling temperature between 50 and 400°C. In addition, two CCT (Continuous Cooling Transformation) diagrams were developed to evaluate the effect of the isothermal holding time on the phase transformations of the remaining austenite. It was observed that the intermediary temperature has a strong influence on the kinetics of the phase transformation, as well as the isothermal holding time influences the amount of ferrite formed and, consequently, the final microstructure and hardness of the material. The coiling temperature did not cause significant changes in the amount and morphology of the ferrite, but a gradual replacement of martensite with bainite was observed, which, in addition to the self-tempering effect, contributed to the hardness reduction.

Oct 1, 2019

By Manoel Inácio dos Reis Neto

Redução no consumo específico (KW/t) de energia elétrica em um dos moinhos de bauxita na refinaria da Alumina na CBA (Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio do grupo Votorantim Metais) através do uso da Metodologia Six Sigma e ações de substituição do óleo mineral por óleo sintético de alta performance, implantação do sistema de blindagem e de resfriamento no redutor deste moinho, onde foi alcançado um resultado de 5,45% de redução neste consumo específico e de 25% na temperatura de trabalho deste redutor, superando as expectativas inicias previstas.

Jul 31, 2018

By Julio César de Oliveira Melo, Giuliano Felippe Soares, André Dias Leite

A resolução de problemas na operação industrial é algo complexo e precisa ser baseada em dados, muitas vezes diversos e não estruturados. Este trabalho traz uma abordagem em big data para dar visibilidade dos problemas em sistemas industriais, trazendo insights que permitam sair da intuição para assertividade, contruibuindo, assim, para redução do tempo de detecção e resolução de problemas.

Oct 1, 2019

By Luis Armando Espitia

AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel specimens were low temperature plasma nitrided at 400°C in a mixture of 75%N2:25%H2, during 20 h. Active screen technic was used to avoid any edge effect The nitrided case is composed of expanded martensite (a’N) and e-Fe3N iron nitride, whilst chromium nitride precipitation was avoided. Surface hardness reached 1275 HV0.01. The transverse microhardness profile shows a gentle hardness gradient with a NHT nitrided case depth of 28 µm. Nanoindentation tests were carried out in order to assess the hardness (H), the Young modulus (E), the H/E and H3/E2 ratios and the elastic recovery (We) of both nitrided and non-nitrided specimens. The cavitation erosion mass losses were measured as a function of exposure time. The results showed a decrease of 27 times of the mass loss compared to the non-nitride specimens. Wear rate decreased from 2.56 mg/h for the non-nitrided condition to 0.085 mg/h after nitriding. The increment in the elastic recovery and the higher hardness values are responsible for the greater cavitation erosion resistance exhibited by the expanded martensite. Such results showed that low temperature plasma nitriding and the formation of expanded martensite are effective to increase cavitation erosion resistance of AISI 410 stainless steel.

Jul 31, 2018

By Daniel Wild, Tobias Scheffer, Marvin Laugwitz, Martin Jochum

Leveling is a standard process in the rolling mill to eliminate flatness deviations. The process layout is based on models and the leveling result depends on the accuracy of the material parameters in these models. Even small deviations from the correct assumptions can have a major effect on the final flatness. Thus, after leveling the products may look optically flat, but subsequent to a final cutting process springback occurs due to residual stresses. The objective of this work is to analyze the influence of material parameters and gravity on the flatness after leveling. To evaluate the sensitivity of the process, an FE parameter study is exerted that reveals the influence of fluctuations in material properties in the case that the leveling setup is fixed. Gravity is neglected to not conceal flatness deviations. Examples of this study are rerun in a further step under consideration of gravity to also analyze its influence on the resulting flatness and residual stresses. Finally, to analyze the consequence of the residual stresses, all information of the plate from the previous step are transferred while gravity is suppressed to prompt springback. This study revealed that slight deviations of the material properties can lead to uneven plates in simulations where gravity is not considered. If gravity is taken into account, the unevenness is concealed and the plate seems flat. A springback simulation of the same plate shows that strong residual stresses are still present and would lead to unevenness if e.g. the plate were cut.

Oct 1, 2019

By Patrícia Mundim Campos Faria

The process of particle size reduction by grinding is inherently inefficient and involves high capital and operating costs. In particular, ball milling is one of the important unit operations in the iron ore pelletizing process. The mill product, due to its physical properties, determines the efficiency of subsequent stages of classification, filtration and pelletizing, thus impacting the quality of iron ore pellets. The work demonstrates the application of the population balance model in the optimization of a full-scale ball mil circuit grinding pellet fines with the aim to evaluate the optimal solids concentration to improve iron ore pellet quality. Initially, detailed experimentation was carried out in a 25.4 cm diameter batch mill and a relationship for mill scale-up using a linear population balance model in wet grinding systems was established. The selection and breakage parameters and the specific selection functions were determined for pellet feed iron ore. It was possible to identify the non-normalizable nature of the breakage functions of the ore studied, which were modeled properly. Afterwards, as a result of incorporating the specific selection functions and breakage functions into the linear population balance model, it was possible to predict product size distributions in the pilot and plant scale mills (0.416 and 5.18 m diameter, respectively) from data obtained in the 25.4 cm diameter mill. Finally, with this scale-up procedure it was possible to appraise the plant scale optimization via laboratory scale grinding mill tests. The effects of changing percent solids were assessed in order to improve the industrial mill performance and the optimal value should be in the range from 76 to 80%.

Aug 1, 2018

By Moacir Alves dos Reis

A fim de monitorar visualmente as condições de funcionamento em cada ventaneira do alto-forno 3, foi instalado um sistema de monitoração através de câmeras especiais de vídeo em cada ventaneira permitindo assim a inspeção visual para verificar as condições das ventaneiras. A inspeção na ventaneira é de particular importância quando carvão pulverizado é injetado através da mesma. Caso ocorra um bloqueio na injeção de uma ventaneira, o carvão pulverizado pode queimar no tubo reto ao invés de queimar no alto forno, resultando assim em danos consideráveis para o tubo reto, ocasionando também a parada do Alto Forno. Por segurança, o fornecimento de carvão pulverizado para uma ventaneira dever ser interrompida assim que for detectado o bloqueio. O bloqueio pode ser detectado tanto por olhando diretamente para a ventaneira através do visor ou continuamente através do sistema de monitoração.Principais facilidades deste sistema: Monitoração contínua das condições operacionais das ventaneiras e do Alto Forno; Monitoração visual e eletrônica simultaneamente; Totalmente isolado da pressão do Alto Forno; Fácil de ajustar; Fabricação especial para trabalhar em áreas agressivas; e Fácil adaptação nas ventaneiras existentes em um Alto Forno.

Aug 16, 2017

By Breno Totti Maia

This work was a continuous and multidisciplinary development. Through studies of the blowing process and its parameters results, evolutions, improvements and adjustments were made on the lance’s hot face with Slagless® technology, as well in the process parameters and mitigating actions of the projection of materials out of the converter. The main results are the increase in the nozzle’s life with a “record mark” of 1785 heats, and water leakage occurrence in the cartridge decreased considerably reaching the mark of one year without any occurrence.

Oct 30, 2017

By Bianca Proença

Fotocatalisadores de nióbio foram obtidos por anodização a 15 V, utilizando uma solução de K2HPO4 10% p/p em glicerol anidro como eletrólito por 15 minutos. As amostras foram caracterizadas por difração de raios-X para avaliação da estrutura cristalina obtida. A fotodegradação do glicerol (utilizado como agente de sacrifício) foi avaliada pela técnica de cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência.

Aug 16, 2017

By Alessandro Marques

Based on a short overview regarding steel defects in the final product, several refractory approaches to maintain or increase steel cleanliness are reviewed in this publication. By applying a ladle to mold approach, one potential to maintain cleanliness is to reduce the probability of air ingress by selection of a suitable slide gate system. Following this path, also the influence of a special configured impact pot is presented to maintain steel quality. Finally, higher productivity as well as cleanliness can be provided by selection of PROIL as a revolutionary product at the casting machine.

Oct 30, 2017

By Fabio Lerbach

The Powder Charcoal Injection in the main burner of the rotary kiln of Pelletizing Plant aims to reduce natural gas consumption and consequently cost reduction with thermal energy. This paper presents the technology, the injection process and the advantages of using powder charcoal to substitute natural gas.

Oct 30, 2017

By Alexandre Patricio Vieira da Silveira

A thyssenkrupp CSA (TKCSA), Rio de Janeiro, possui dois Altos-Fornos. Ambos iniciaram operação em 2010, Alto-Forno 01 em 13/07/2010 e Alto-Forno 02 em 06/12/2010. Em Dezembro de 2014, foram verificados problemas de deslocamento dos staves de ferro fundido e deformação dos staves de cobre. Analisando estes eventos foi identificado quebra dos parafusos de fixação dos staves de ferro fundido na carcaça. O trabalho apresenta histórico destes acontecimentos, as intervenções realizadas como meio de preservar a integridade e prolongar a vida útil dos Altos-Fornos e os resultados obtidos após retirada de água do interior do mesmo.

Oct 30, 2017

By Daniel Suarez

Over the last few years the mining industry has continuously been facing increases in capital and operating costs for new projects; plant expansions and also significant increases in the operating costs of existing plants. To counteract such trend the industry is seeking technologies such as the Vertimill as an option to lower the operating costs of grinding circuits. The benefits the Vertimill offers in terms of lower energy consumption and lower media consumption are well established and documented; such benefits can significantly improve the viability of a new project, plant expansions or upgrading grinding mills that need to be replaced. The paper briefly describes the operation of the Vertimill, recent regrind applications in processing Iron ores where the impact of lower energy and grinding media consumption is very significant because of the large tonnages involved, and also applications as a tertiary and secondary grinding stages of grinding circuits. The paper also highlight the expected role the Vertimill can play in secondary applications and the expected impact on the overall economics of the project.

Aug 1, 2018

By Elen Mancini Santi Paulettor, Vinicius Calheiros, Eduardo de Oliveira Cabral

At this paper, Eirich will present its new tool for sinter analysis integrated to the sintering control system. For stabilization and optimal, continuous control of the sintering process, QualiMaster MT1, a device was developed which guarantees fully automatic representative sampling and material analysis and thus a high and stable sintering quality. Mining tailings often has a considerable proportion of valuable substances. In addition to this work, we will also present our mixing technology that allows the economic recovery of these mining tailings.

Oct 1, 2019