Studying the causes of destruction of steam superheater tubes in boiler equipment

Results of comprehensive studies of samples of prematurely destroyed 57×4 mm steam superheaer tubes of STBA 22 steel used in a boiler unit of Singburi Sugar Co, Ltd factory (Thailand) are presented. The tubes were manufactured at Interpipe Niko Tube Ltd. (Ukraine) according to JIS G 3462 Standard (Japan). They were destroyed in a short (~240 hrs) term of operation. The cause of premature destruction of tubes of the above steel grade and size assortment in the boiler unit has been established. Based on present-day investigation methods (metallography, X-ray diffraction, etc.), it was found that the tubes were operated with violation of fuel combustion conditions and heat-carrying agent circulation. Characteristic features of operation of damaged tubes include high thermal stresses from the side of the fire-chamber and limitation (or absence) of circulation of the heat-carrying agent (blockage in bends, drum heads, etc.). During operation, the tubes were also exposed to significant thermal vibration stresses (unstable combustion conditions). Prolonged overheating occurred at temperatures above 1000 °C because of violation of circulation of heat-carrying agent and unstable combustion mode. High thermal stresses at almost complete absence of a heat-carrying agent, uneven distribution of growing heat flows caused by violation of the combustion mode in the fire-chamber contributed to accelerated degradation of structure and thermal destruction of the tube metal. In a short term of operation (~240 hours), there was a significant change in the tube size (accelerated high-temperature creep) and complete recrystallization of metal structure throughout the entire wall thickness of the damaged tubes. It has been established that the accelerated degradation of metal microstructure in the destroyed tubes was associated with both overheating of the tube wall and the as-delivered metal structure non-recommended for operation at high temperatures and pressures. It was shown that it is necessary to adjust the heat treatment conditions for these tubes at Interpipe Niko Tube Ltd. The study results have made it possible to develop recommendations for eliminating violations of operating conditions and establishing control of actual heat flows in the most thermally loaded sections of the Singburi Sugar Co. Ltd factory’s steam boiler superheater. Taking into account peculiarities of the boiler equipment and its operating conditions, it was also recommended to use a more heat-resistant and refractory steel instead of the currently used material for manufacture of the steam superheater tubes. Keywords: boiler tube, steam superheater, damage, thermal destruction, structure degradation, combustion conditions, heat carrier circulation, overheating.

Influence of MHD - plasma melt processing on the structure and properties of cast aluminum alloy A390

Growth of production of cast products and the desire of enterprises to reduce the cost of manufacturing metal products led to a significant increase in requirements for the structure and properties of aluminum alloys. Increasing of physical and mechanical properties of alloys is most effectively at the stages of their preparation in liquid state. At that, it is possible to affect effectively on the quality of cast metal by external actions on alloys, deep refining from gases and harmful impurities, active modifying of alloy, reducing or eliminating the negative impact of heredity of charge materials. The main disadvantage of the processes of structure refinement of alloys by using modifiers is instability of their results, which depends on various reasons. One of the most important reasons is providing conditions for the formation and preservation of active modifier particles in the melt volume. They are assimilating by liquid alloy and acting on crystal nucleus at crystallization. It is known that only ~10% particles are active of the total number of particles added with the ligature into the melt. Other particles dissolve in the melt, take away by the crystallization front, or push back on to intergranular boundaries. The considered methods of electromagnetic, MHD and plasma actions on liquid metal allow to refine and modify alloys without use of special reagents. The paper presents studying of the structure and properties of supereutectic silumin A390 after treatment in casting magnetodynamic installation (MDI) by submerged into melt the plasma argon jet and alternating electromagnetic field & magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects, including simultaneous combination. There are developed the scientific and technological bases of MHD-plasma processing of liquid hypereutectic silumin A390 and original equipment for their realization. It provides dispersed structure of solidified alloy. Thus, there is a significant decreasing of sizes both particles of primary silicon and dendrites of α-solid solution of aluminium. Also, strength characteristics of alloys increased to 10%, and elongation rises up in 1.5-2 times. Keywords: plasma jet, magnetodynamic installation (MDI), aluminum alloy, mechanical properties.

Modern view on steel desulfurization

Modern technological schemes of steel production do not allow to achieve low (< 0.01 % S) and ultra-low (<0.005 % S) sulfur content on the production of in the metal directly. That is why out-of-furnace steel treatment is often used to remove sulfur. Desulfurization process of steel depends on the chemical composition of the slag, the time of its formation in the ladle, metal oxidation, conditions of mixing of steel in a ladle, additional technological operations and ladle metal processing. Methods are widely used for desulfurization of steel treatment of steel with solid slag-forming mixtures, synthetic slag, lime-aluminous slag, silico-calcium and other powdered materials. Modern approaches to the process of steel desulfurization in conditions steel production are analyzed in the Study. In particular, the Ukrainian (on the example of PJSC ‘Azovstal Iron & Steel Works’ and PJSC ‘Dneprovsky Integrated Iron & Steel Works named after Dzershinsky’) and foreign (on the example of PJSC ‘Severstal’ and PJSC ‘Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works’) experience of desulfurization under oxygen converter production. The use of technological complexes ‘Installation of pig iron desulfurization steel making unit’ and ‘Cast iron desulfurization installation steel making unit is ‘oven-bucket’ installation’ provides a deeper desulfurization of steel, the possibility of optimizing the cost of steel production, expands range of scarce products and eliminates a number of restrictive conditions that complicate current production. The analysis of steel C80D desulfurization process is given in the conditions of JSC ‘Moldova Steel Works’, in which partial sulfur removal occurs in an arc steel making furnace, and the ultra-low content is achieved by creating a highly basic refining slag in the process out-of-furnace processing of steel. The study of the kinetics of the desulfurization process of 20GL steel in the conditions of JSC ‘Tashkent Mechanical Plant’ with the use of solid slag-forming mixtures and modification of steel with rare-earth metals is analyzed. The issue of desulfurization of electric steel in the conditions of OJSC ‘Byelorussian Steel Works’ with injection of powdered materials through the installation ‘Velko’ during out-of-furnace processing of steel is considered. Keywords: steel desulfurization, desulfurizer reagent, degree of desulfurization, cast iron desulfurization installation, out-of-furnace processing of steel, ‘‘oven-bucket’’ installation.

Sensitivity to Mn content mechanical properties of phase composition of ADI

The effect of manganese content on the phase composition and mechanical properties was studied on ADI materials that are isothermally quenchеd at different temperatures. ADI samples with Mn content of 0.78% and 0.24% were analyzed. The final structure of the cast iron was created by austenitizing heating at 900 ° C for 30 minutes. and subsequent isothermal quenching in liquid tin at temperatures of 310, 330, 350, 380 ° C for samples with high manganese content and at 350, 370 ° C for samples with low content. It is shown that increasing the manganese content increases the amount of residual austenite under the same quenching conditions. This enhances the positive role of the TRIP effect on the hardening processes. In particular, ADI with a high content of Mn show a higher rate of strengthening at the initial region of loading diagram, higher hardness and increased damping capacity. Instead, due to the embrittlement action of manganese, such materials have lower mechanical characteristics, which determined fracture moment. It was found that for the same quenching conditions, deformation to fracture and toughness are reduced by half on samples with higher manganese content. The negative effect of manganese on the fatigue is less significant, because the embrittlement action is compensated by phase transformations in the crack head, which inhibits its spread under cyclic loading. Due to the fact that manganese enhances the positive role of the TRIP effect but decrease fracture résistance, it is proposed to use ADI materials with high Mn content in products that operate in conditions of wear but are not subject to extreme stress. Keywords: ADI materials, manganese alloying, isothermal hardening, TRIP effect, retained austenite, strengthening, hardness. damping capacity.

Dependence between structure of cast Al-Ni-La alloys and their chemical composition

The peculiarities of cast Al-Ni-La alloys structure formation depending on the content and ratio of the main components are analyzed in the work. It is shown, that so far the studied system has been considered mainly for the creation of amorphous materials. At the same time, Al-Ni and Al-La systems have phase diagrams that allow us to consider double and triple alloys of these systems to create promising creep-resistant alloys for casting. At the same time, the peculiarities of their structure formation in this context were not determined. Samples with different contents of nickel and lanthanum were prepared for research and analyzed how each of the elements, their number and ratio affect the formation of their structural-phase state. It is shown, that low nickel content of about 2 wt. % and lanthanum up to 5 wt. % eutectic is formed like thin almost monolithic intermetallic plates. As the number of components increases and, accordingly, the number of eutectics increases, the dispersion of its components increases. The analysis of the alloy structure dependence due to studied system on their chemical composition showed that, most likely, during the formation of the eutectic, Al11La3 particles, which may have the form of nanosized fibers, are formed first of all. It should be noted that at the eutectic content of lanthanum in the alloys no primary-formed Al11La3 particles were found. This may indicate that nickel shifts the eutectic concentration of lanthanum toward higher values. At the same time, at the hypoeutectic concentration of lanthanum and the hypereutectic concentration of nickel, some Al11La3 formations were outside the regions of the main eutectic with nickel aluminide. Such questions necessitate further studies of the aluminum angle of the triple state diagram of the Al-Ni-La system. Keywords: Al-Ni-La system, creep-resistant cast aluminum alloys, structure, eutectic.

Structure and wear of gradient steel castings

The effect of overheating of the melt over the equilibrium liquidus in the temperature range 1570 °C – 1670 °C and the rate of its cooling during crystallization and structure formation of castings on the formation of the length and morphology of the main macrostructural zones, grain dispersion, characteristics of the fine crystal structure, hardness and intensity of abrasive wear over the section of 25L steel castings with a differentiated cast structure was investigated. Regular changes of these indicators depending on thermokinetic conditions of crystallization are established. The determining influence of the melt cooling rate on the morphology and dispersion of the cast structure due to different degrees of melt supercooling during crystallization of different structural zones of castings is shown. As the distance from the rapidly cooling surface of the castings and taking into account the increase in the temperature of the melt overheat from 1570 ºC to 1670 ºC, the grain size varies from 5… 7 numbers to 1… 2 numbers, respectively. In the case of normal heat removal rate during crystallization, the grain size in the castings varies from 4… 2 to -1… -2 numbers. The determined characteristics of wear resistance of steel in different structural zones correlate with changes in the characteristics of the cast structure and the cross-sectional strength of castings. The research results open the prospect of developing new foundry technologies for the production of cast products with differential properties for special operating conditions. Keywords: gradient structure, structural zones, melt, wear.

Features of Al-10Mo electron-beam produced master-alloy assimilation in liquid aluminum and AlSi9Cu3 alloy

The work is devoted to the Al-10Mo electron-beam prepared master-alloy modifying phases dissolution and assimilation features determination. It is shown that the obtained master-alloy is characterized by uniform distribution and high dispersion of molybdenum aluminide particles. When studying the process of dissolving the master-alloy in pure aluminum, it was determined that the time of modification of the melt more than 20 minutes at a temperature of 740 ± 10 ° C leads to the most complete destruction of the original intermetallics Al22Mo5 and Al17Mo4 and the formation of smaller and evenly distributed particles Al5Mo and Al12Mo with dimensions about 2 μm. As the molybdenum content decreases, the dispersion of the modifying phases and the uniformity of their distribution increase. Increasing the temperature and exposure time do not improve the assimilation of the modifier. The Al-10Mo master-alloy, obtained in the conditions of electron-beam casting technology, has a number of characteristics that allow to consider it as more efficient and cost-effective, compared to known analogues. This is due to the much higher concentration of molybdenum in the modifier (10% wt.), as well as fine dispersion and uniform distribution of the modifying phases. The nonequilibrium composition of aluminides inherent in the ligatures obtained under these conditions contributes to their significant grinding and refining after addition into aluminum melts. The stoichiometry of the phases from Al22Mo5 and Al17Mo4 changes to Al12Mo, which serve as crystallization centers and have a size of about 1 μm, dissolves and changes. The example of industrial casting alloy AlSi9Cu3 shows complete and effective assimilation of the master-alloy in a short time of 5 minutes at a temperature of 740 ± 10 ° C. Such indicators are more economic, in comparison with standard industrial ones, for which both higher temperature of melt preparing ant longer lifetime in liquid state after modification are necessary. Keywords: master-alloys, Al-Mo, modifications, aluminum alloys, AlSi9Cu3, resource saving.

Predicting the properties of nickel-based superalloys directional crystallization

The aim of this work is to obtain predictive regression models, with which it is possible to adequately calculate the mechanical properties of heat-resistant nickel alloys, without prior experiments. Industrial alloys of directional crystallization of domestic and foreign production were selected for research. The values were processed by the method of least squares to obtain correlations with the receipt of mathematical equations of regression models that optimally describe these dependencies. As a result of processing of experimental data, the ratio of alloying elements which can be used for an estimation of mechanical properties taking into account complex influence of the main components of an alloy is offered for the first time. Since the dimensional mismatch of the lattice parameters is associated with the degree of concentration of solid-soluble hardening of γ- and γ'-phases, the efficiency of dispersion hardening of the alloy, creep rate and other properties, the obtained ratio allows to link these properties with multicomponent systems. Regression models are presented, with the help of which it is possible to calculate dimensional mismatch, strength, heat resistance, number of  phases and density of alloys with high accuracy. The regularities of the composition influence on the properties of heat-resistant nickel alloys of directional crystallization are established. It is shown that for multicomponent nickel systems it is possible to predict with high probability misfit, which significantly affects the strength characteristics of alloys of this class. The decrease in the value of misfit is accompanied by an increase in the solubility of the elements in the -solid solution at a value of the ratio of alloying elements of 1.5 - 1.6. However, an increase in the ratio of alloying elements greater than 2 is accompanied by an increase in misfit, because the -solid solution has reached a maximum of dissolution. The perspective and effective direction in the decision of a problem of forecasting of the basic characteristics influencing a complex of service properties of alloys both at development of new heat-resistant nickel alloys, and at perfection of structures of known industrial marks of this class is shown. Keywords: nickel-based superalloys, dimensional mismatch (γ / γ'- mismatch), strength, heat resistance.

Microstructure and dislocation hardening mechanism of VT8 alloy

Specimens of titanium alloy VT8, which is used for the manufacture of gas turbine engine elements, were investigated in the initial state and after fracture toughness testing by methods of transmission electron microscopy and diffraction analysis. The features of the microstructure, structure morphology, the nature of phase distribution and structural components were established. Defects in the crystal structure, the formations of dislocation inhomogeneities and local concentrators of internal stresses were identified using JEM-200CX transmission electron microscope. The scalar dislocation density is determined by the secant method. The study of VT8 titanium alloy samples before and after destruction, which is used for the manufacture of GTE elements, using the methods of transmission electron microscopy and diffraction analysis was made. Microstructural investigations for a detailed analysis of the structure features, morphology and phase formations distribution, as well as their components establishment, the nature of crystal lattice defects, the formation of dislocation inhomogeneities and local concentrators of internal stresses were performed on a JEM-200CX transmission electron microscope. The scalar dislocation density was measured by the secant method. It is shown that the studied samples of VT8 titanium alloy are characterized by a two-phase (α + β) microstructure in the form of large -phase plates, 0.15 ... 0.76 μm in size, interspersed with an insignificant amount of thin-plate β-phase, with a size of 0.04 ... 0.21 μm. Based on scalar dislocation densities, the level of local internal stresses in the places of dislocation accumulations, which are sources of crack formation, was analytically estimated. Dispersed particles of secondary phases characterized by different sizes and different structure morphologies were identified. The calculated dislocation densities and an estimate of the average distance over which they move in the process of deformation are used as the basis for creating a statistical map of localized deformation level indicators in the alloy structural components and on the fracture surface. It is shown that as a result of fracture after testing for low-cycle fatigue, the dislocation density increases, the level of local internal stresses increases, and the formation of a cellular structure in the α- and β-phases and deformation grain-boundary defects occurs. Keywords: VT8 alloy, dislocation structure, microstructure, transmission electron microscopy, local internal stresses.

Nickel and molybdenum influence on the structure and chemical composition of surface destruction of iron with spherical graphite

The results of the study of the influence of nickel and molybdenum on the structure and chemical composition of the fracture surface of cast iron with spherical graphite are presented in the paper. It is shown that the fracture of cast iron with spherical graphite occurs along the boundaries of the distribution of graphite balls with matrix, and the fracture of the matrix occurs both by the mechanism of intergranular and transgranular fractures. Molybdenum and nickel alloying changes the mechanism of transgranular fracture of the matrix from brittle for ordinary cast iron to viscous for molybdenum and nickel alloying. It is established that the fracture surfaces of cast iron, depending on the analysis places there are elements such as O, C, P, N, Cu, Ni, Si, Mg. Studies of the distribution of impurities in the near-surface layers of the destroyed samples have shown that the quantity of elements such as oxygen, phosphorus and nitrogen decreases with increasing distance from the fracture surface. The phosphorus quantity is reduced by 40 - 45% in the places of the cast iron matrix, where the graphite balls were located during the alloying of cast iron by molybdenum and nickel. Keywords: cast iron, nickel, molybdenum, alloying, Auger spectroscopy, chemical composition, structure, fracture, surface.