The Role of Nonmetallic Inclusions in Accelerating the Local Corrosion of Metal Products Made of Plain-Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

Using the principles of physicochemical modeling to describe the deoxidation and desulfurization of steel in the ladle and interactions between the metallic and slag phases with allowance for features of the equipment in use at specific plants, the paper shows that it is possible to quickly optimize the parameters of out-of-furnace treatments of the steel without losing productivity. The optimum parameters make it possible to fully realize all of the main advantages of such treatments: further refining of the steel, modification of the nonmetallic inclusions, guaranteeing that the steel will be clean in terms of the presence of corrosion-active nonmetallic inclusions, and, thus, ensuring that the steel will be resistant to local corrosion.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]