Contaminants in steel – such as Silicon, Sulphur, Phosphorous, Lead, Tin, and Oxygen – can lead to a faulty product, too brittle or too ductile. These types of contaminants, called inclusions, can have some positive benefits, but must be closely monitored in order to produce a high-quality steel. Too many of one type could outweigh the benefits it was included to provide, while too few of another type could cause faults in the steel. Being able to identify these inclusions and analyze the effects they have on the steel allows the manufacturers to adjust the steel mixture as needed.
Since inclusions can be rather small, they can be divided into macro- (>20 µm), micro- (1-20 µm), and submicro-inclusions (<1 µm), and need special instruments to identify them. Aspex has created a software platform for its Personal Scanning Electron Microscope (PSEM) called Metal Quality Analyzer (MQA). As its name suggests, MQA is able to analyze the inclusion of a given sample, identifying and providing the elemental composition for the inclusions. This provides the manufacturer with necessary information about the projected properties of the steel if it were left to have those inclusions included. The manufacturer can then adjust the mixture to meet their standards.
The Aspex PSEM with MQA can be placed directly into the steelmaking line, allowing on-the-spot inclusion contaminant analysis. Since it is a fully-integrated SEM/EDX machine, they are capable of sizing, counting, and determining the elemental composition of the sample, and can have scan speeds of up to 10,000 inclusions fully characterized in an hour. Not only does this help identify the properties of the steel, but the differences in the steel sample between steps – such as the ladle and the casting – can identify valuable insight into the process for manufacturers. They can then take that information and implement strategies directly into their Quality Management Systems.
Contaminants in steel can lead to costly downtime or faulty products. In order to produce a quality product, manufacturers must use the available, reliable tools. The Aspex PSEM with MQA provides manufacturers with fast, reliable, accurate inclusion analysis, allowing them to take corrective action during the steelmaking process, and is capable of saving manufacturers significantly more than the upfront cost of implementation, and leads to a high quality product manufacturers can be proud to produce.
Reference:
Aspex, http://www.aspexcorp.com/industries/metals.html
Azom Materials, http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=4104
