Avoidance of crack formation during continuous casting of Duplex stainless steels

Purpose and goal

The purpose of the project was to investigate the occurrence of cracks during continuous casting of duplex stainless steels. During the project, phase field and gradient solidification technology have been developed to enable systematic studies of casting structures, which is otherwise difficult because transformation of the structure during cooling. With these methods and industrial trials, the cracking sequence has been described with a new mechanism. Approaches to minimize cracking have been identified and companies are now investigating how these can be implemented.

Expected results and effects

The results of the project are I) increased understanding of the fracture mechanism in these materials II) Methods for studying the development of casting structure. III) Approaches to minimize cracking. The expected effects, with respect to results I-III are: I) New understanding that will considered in the design of new alloys. Scientific publication(s) and collaborations across academia-industry. II) New data from these tests. The methods that will be used in future projects on e.g. other type of materials. III) Increased yield and reduced cost of cracking (in the long run).

Planned approach and implementation

Within the project, continuous cast material has been studied with three complementary approaches to provide a complete picture of the structural development and crack formation. I) full-scale experiments and subsequent analysis to study structures in real materials. II) gradient solidification experiments in a unique experimental setup that allows the casting structure to be "freezed" and not further transformed during further cooling III) unique modeling method that allows detailed studies of solidification and especially segregation of alloying elements.