On the Ductility of Steel near the Solidification Temperature

Abstract

As a part of the studies on the formation of the internal cracks in continuously cast slabs, the tensile properties of specimens sampled from various steel slabs were examined up to their solidification temperature and the effects of solute elements and solidification structure on the transition temperature from high to low ductility were investigated.
The results obtained are as follows.
(1) The mechanism of the abrupt transition to the low ductility is considered to be related to the melting of grain boundaries. The transition temperature, therefore, is lowered due to the increase of solute elements, and is also affected by the solidification structure of the specimen.
(2) The lower the transition temperature becomes, the more easily the internal cracks occut in the continuously cast slab.