Study on the three-dimensional morphology of MnS inclusions in high sulphur steel

ABSTRACT

MnS inclusions in steels usually have many kinds of morphology. It is difficult to accurately obtain the characteristics of inclusions by two-dimensional observation due to the complex morphology of sulphides in steel, especially the type II MnS inclusions. In this study, the three-dimensional morphology of sulphide in high sulphur steel was investigated by using non-aqueous solution electrolytic etching. Inclusions with a circle and ellipse morphology in two-dimension show more complex morphology in three-dimension. The differences in the distribution, size, shape of sulphides between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional state in the high sulphur steel were studied. Compared with the statistical results of inclusions in two-dimension, the diameter and area in three-dimension are larger than those in two-dimension. Moreover, the proportional function between the size of inclusion in two-dimension and that in three-dimension is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• MnS
• high sulphur steel
• 1215 steel
• inclusion
• morphology
• electrolytic etching
• two-dimension
• three-dimension

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52074179, 51874195), Center for Advanced Solidification Technology (CAST) and State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [grant number 52074179, 51874195].