Oxide-Inclusion Evolution in the Steelmaking Process of 304L Stainless Steel for Nuclear Power

The inclusions formed in 304L stainless steel for nuclear power produced by the electric arc furnace (EAF)-argon oxygen decarburization furnace (AOD)-ladle furnace (LF)-continuous casting (CC) process were investigated by thermodynamics calculations and experimental results. The results showed that the inclusions after AOD and LF refining were almost the same as the slag composition. The types of inclusions (sizes larger than 5 µm) were mainly CaSiO3 with high SiO2 content at the end of AOD, and Ca2SiO4 with high CaO content at the end of LF. The Al2O3 and MgO content of inclusions increased from AOD to LF. There were two types of inclusions in the tundish: CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO and CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-MnO inclusions with MgO·Al2O3 spinel precipitation. The content of Al2O3 in the inclusions increased rapidly with the decrease in temperature from the end of LF refining to continuous casting, as calculated using FactSage6.3 software. The rapid increase of Al2O3 in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-(MnO) inclusions promoted the precipitation of MgO·Al2O3 spinel in continuous casting tundish, suggesting mechanisms for the formation of inclusions in the 304L stainless steel.