Determination of Micro-alloyed Elements Containing in the Solid Solution Phase in High Tensile Steel

For the steel making control with micro-alloyed elements, it is essential to accurately analyze the distribution of those elements between different metallurgical phases in steel. The micro-alloyed elements contained in precipitates have been analyzed by conventional chemical or electrochemical procedures, selectively dissolving the Fe matrix by electrolysis, and separating precipitates as insoluble particles from the matrix by filtration. But this method has become inadequate to analyze the fine precipitates because some of the fine precipitates extracted are unavoidably uncollected. Hence, we have developed a quantitative analysis for micro-alloyed elements containing in the solid solution phase of steel, named solute elements, by using of analyzing a portion of the electrolytic solution. By electrolysis, solute elements are dissolved into the electrolyte, and the precipitates remain on the surface of the sample as insoluble particles. So, the analysis of the electrolytic solution during or after electrolysis enables the determination of solute elements directly. For certified reference materials, the sum total of concentration of solute element analyzed by this method and the precipitate analyzed by conventional method suits a certified value substantially on the micro-alloyed element. However, for the samples that contain fine precipitates, they are not in agreement with the total content obtained by the spark-OES. It is estimated that the precipitates not collected by filtration in the conventional method cause the disagreement. It shows the proposed method, which analyzes solute elements directly, is useful for estimating the distribution of the micro-alloyed elements between different metallurgical phases.