Research of the Process of Production of Steel Square Continuous Billets for Rolling Balls of Large Diameter

The paper investigates the technology of production of steel billets continuously cast billets for rolling balls of large diameter. In Kazakhstan, in connection with the development of new copper deposits such as Aktogay and Bozshakol, the need for large diameter steel grinding balls for primary ore processing has increased. The main problem in the operation of large diameter grinding balls is the tendency of the grinding media to break during operation. The authors of the work investigated the process of production of steel billets continuously cast billets with a cross section of 150 × 150 mm for rolling balls of large diameter (d 125 mm) in the PB LLP "KSP Steel", which showed that the breaking of grinding balls is initiated mainly by the presence of internal discontinuities (gas axial looseness) in continuously cast billets. Studies have shown that the technological scheme for the production of grinding balls with a diameter of 125 mm from continuously cast billets with a section of 150 × 150 mm, including steel smelting in an arc furnace with steel finishing on a ladle-furnace unit, deoxidation with aluminum and degassing in a ladle vacuum apparatus, casting steel in a closed jet on a continuous casting and further production of rolled stock on a rough rolling mill ensures the absence of internal discontinuities (gas bubbles, axial looseness) in the workpieces and ensures the production of high quality balls.

Effect of Normalizing Treatment on Mechanical Properties of AISI 441 Stainless Steel Prepared by Investment Casting

In this paper, AISI 441 stainless steel was investigated as a casting steel using the investment casting process (ICP). The microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-cast and normalizing treatment samples were analyzed. The results show that the tensile strength of as-cast AISI 441 prepared by ICP is 458 MPa, and the elongation is 22.7%. Normalizing treatment can improve the mechanical performance of AISI 441 prepared by ICP, but strength and elongation have a slightly decreasing trend with increasing normalizing temperature and time. The suitable normalizing treatment condition is 850 °C for 2 h. It was found that normalizing temperature and time have little effect on grain size and carbonitride. There was an increasing trend in the mean equivalent length (MEL) of the Laves phase as normalizing temperature and time increases. The effect of normalizing treatment on strength increase was mainly related to the change of the Laves phase size.

Cold resistance of new casting Cr – Mn – Ni – Mo – N steel with 0.5 % of N. Part. 1

The authors have studied cold resistance of thelaboratorymetal of a new austenitic grade of nitrogen-containing casting steel (21 – 22) Cr – 15Mn – 8Ni – 1.5Mo – V (Russian grade 5Kh21АG15N8МFL) with nitrogen content of 0.5 % and yield strength of ~400 MPa. The temperature dependence of impact toughness was constructed in the range +20 ... –160 °C and it was shown that the steel is characterized by a wide temperature range of the viscous-brittle transition with T DBT = –75 °C, at which KCV = 120 ± 10 J/cm2. Comparison material – industrial, centrifugally cast 18Cr – 10Ni steel (grade 12Kh18N10-CC) has such a KCV level at +20 °C. It is not prone to viscous-brittle transition, its impact strength decreases more gently and at temperatures lower than –80 °C and its KCV level is higher than that of nitrous steel. However, in the entire range of climatic temperatures, nitrous casting steel with 0.5 % of N exceeds its impact strength. The studied steels have residual δ-ferrite in the cast structure in an amount of up to ~10 % in Cr– Ni industrial steel and a smaller amount in laboratory nitrous steel. It is enriched by chromium, up to 26 and 34 wt. % respectively, and contains ~14 % of Mn in nitrogen steel. Presence of Mn does not affect the nature of fractures at climatic temperatures. However, δ-ferrite of nitrous steel at –160 °C is beyond the cold brittle threshold. Therefore, its fracture obtained at this temperature contains numerous cracks in δ-ferrite crystals. The critical fragility temperature below which this material is not recommended for use is Тк ≈ –110 °С; it was determined by the criterion method. It corresponds to a level of KCV of 68 – 83 J/cm2, higher than the level of KCU at +20 °C, allowed by the standard of the Russian Federation for castings from austenitic class of steels (up to 59 J/cm2 ). Based on a comparison of literature and our own data, it was concluded that it is impossible to ensure high cold resistance and, at the same time, high strength, due to alloying of economically alloyed nickel (up to 4 %) corrosion-resistant steels by 0.5 – 0.6 % of N.

Theoretical and Experimental Study on the Antisliding Performance of Casting Steel Cable Clamps

For large-span cable structures, a cable clamp is a key joint that connects adjacent structural components. In general, the antisliding performance of cable clamps determines their resistance capacity, and the antisliding force is generated by the clamping force induced by the high-strength bolts and the contact surfaces between the cable and the clamp. Since the existing methods are not sufficiently comprehensive for use to predict the precise bolt preload, a theoretical model developed by considering transversely isotropic material and the generalized Hook’s law is presented to predict the attenuation values of the bolt clamping force and the corresponding parameters. Then, to meet the requirements of Eurocode 3, a new laboratory test is performed to reveal the antisliding mechanism of cable clamps, considering the effects of long-term creep and cable tension. According to the results of the data collected by real-time monitoring, the actual ultimate antisliding force of the clamp and the comprehensive friction coefficient are determined. Finally, a comparative study between the theoretical results and the experimental results is conducted. The proposed theoretical model can predict the actual attenuation of the bolt clamping force after cable tension. The results show that the stiffness of the clamp plate should be minimized when designing the clamp to reduce the loss of the bolt preload.