抄録
Effects of titanium addition on as-cast austenite grain size in 0.2 mass% carbon steel cooled at 0.03°C/s has been studied. The average austenite grain size was reduced from 4.3 to 1.9 mm by increasing the titanium concentration from 0 to 0.13 mass%. Two different shapes of Ti(C, N) particles were observed in the solidified samples; one was a facet shape which were dispersed over the whole observation area and the other was a filmy shape, most of which were located on the austenite grain boundary. Thermodynamic calculations and EPMA analyses showed that the facet shaped Ti(C, N) particles crystallize at relatively high temperatures, while the filmy shaped ones form from the last solidifying liquid in the inter-dendritic regions at lower temperatures. The latter Ti(C, N) is considered to provide the grain refinement effect of austenite grain structure. The grain refinement effects of titanium are further discussed by comparing the results of 0.2 mass% carbon steel with those of 0.45 mass % one, which supports the substantial effect of the filmy shaped Ti(C, N) on the as-cast austenite grain structure.
