Speaker
Description
The European steel industry is on the brink of a transformation. With the widespread replacement of the blast furnace iron making route and the use of steel scrap as a raw material, we can expect a higher amount of tramp elements such as Cu, Ni, Mo and Sn in our steels. These steels bring potential for cost-effective alloy design, but also challenges with regards to casting and hot working, with the main concern being selective oxidation and hot shortness due to the presence of Cu. To test the potential of maximum scrap utilization, steels with an increased Cu-concentration and with different levels of Ni were tested. Gleeble tests and heat treatment tests were used to simulate the conditions during continuous casting and hot working, to assess the risk of hot shortness, and to investigate the influence on the microstructure and properties. It was found that Ni- and Cu-rich grain boundary phases accumulate underneath the scale layer, that no negative impact on hot working was present and that elevated amounts of Cu had a slight effect on promoting non-equilibrium phase transformations.