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Influence of substituting B2O3 with Li2O on the viscosity, structure and crystalline phase of low-reactivity mold flux

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Abstract

The low-reactivity mold flux with low SiO2 content is considered suitable for the continuous casting of high-aluminum steel since it can significantly reduce the reaction between Al in steel and SiO2 in mold flux. However, the traditional low-reactivity mold flux still presents some problems such as high viscosity and strong crystallization tendency. In this study, the co-addition of Li2O and B2O3 in CaO–Al2O3–10wt%SiO2 based low-reactivity mold flux was proposed to improve properties of mold flux for high-aluminum steel, and the effect of Li2O replacing B2O3 on properties of mold flux was investigated. The viscosity of the mold flux with 2wt% Li2O and 6wt% B2O3 reached a minimum value of 0.07 Pa·s. The break temperature and melting point showed a similar trend with the viscosity. Besides, the melt structure and precipitation of the crystalline phase were studied using Raman and X-ray diffraction spectra to better understand the evolution of viscosity. It demonstrated that with increasing Li2O content in the mold flux from 0 to 6wt%, the degree of polymerization of aluminate and the aluminosilicate network structure increased because of increasing Li+ released by Li2O, indicating the added Li2O was preferentially associated with Al3+ as a charge compensator. The precipitation of LiAlO2 crystalline phase gradually increased with the replacement of B2O3 by Li2O. Therefore, Li2O content should be controlled below 2wt% to avoid LiAlO2 precipitation, which was harmful to the continuous casting of high-aluminum steels.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation China (No. U22A20171) and the Scinence and Technology Program of Hebei, China (No. 20311004D). We also appreciate the other support from High Steel Center (HSC) at North China University of Technology, Yanshan University, University of Science and Technology Bei**g, Hebei Innovation Center of the Development and Application of High Quality Steel Materials, China, and Hebei International Research Center of Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing of High Quality Steel Materials, China.

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  1. School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Bei**g, Bei**g, 100083, China

    Rongzhen Mo, Ying Ren & Junjie Hu

  2. Lecture at College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400030, China

    Xubin Zhang

  3. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, North China University of Technology, Bei**g, 100144, China

    Lifeng Zhang

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Mo, R., Zhang, X., Ren, Y. et al. Influence of substituting B2O3 with Li2O on the viscosity, structure and crystalline phase of low-reactivity mold flux. Int J Miner Metall Mater 30, 1320–1328 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2621-x

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