Study of Transverse Crack Formation of a Nb-Peritectic Steel

The problem of transverse crack formation in continuously cast steel has been an issue for over 30 years. The crack susceptibility depends not only to the steel composition, but also to the temperature history during casting. To improve the surface quality, two key solutions have been suggested; adjusting the straightening stage to an appropriate temperature range, out of hot ductility trough, and/or alloy modification. These solutions have certain limitations and difficulties still exist for grades such as peritectic steels containing Nb or V. In this article, the hot ductility of a peritectic steel grade with Nb has been studied under direct cast conditions. This was performed using a Gleeble 3800 thermo-mechanical simulator under two critical strain rates. In addition, the transverse crack formation and appearance, as well as the application of infrared camera to study the surface temperature profile of the slabs is presented.