Stelco Inc.

The Steel Company of Canada, Limited

John H Kelly

Leonard E Guest

The internal quality of continuously cast and other steel samples in the form of ingots, billets, blooms, slabs and bars is determined in rapid manner to enable potentially problem-causing casting conditions to be identified and corrected in timely manner. A steel sample from the casting, after grinding to remove any heat-affected zone and to provide a desired degree of surface roughness, is anodically etched using dilute hydrochloric acid at ambient temperature to etch away metal from the surface to reveal the internal quality. After removal of the sample from the etching apparatus, the sample is washed, dried, and visually examined to determine the internal quality.

Electrolytic etching of metals to reveal internal quality

Method and apparatus for electrolytic etching of metals

A method of fluxing an oxide sample includes placing the sample in a crucible which has a central axis and a bottom, and heating the crucible and thus the oxide sample. A motion is applied to the crucible whereby the central axis moves to describe a conical surface with an apex on the central axis and spaced from the bottom of the crucible by a distance equal to or less than the crucible height. The crucible itself is restrained against rotation about its own axis.

Method for automatically fluxing and casting samples

An apparatus includes a frame and a crucible having a central axis and a bottom. The crucible is supported and is moved so that the central axis of the crucible describes a substantially conical surface with an apex located substantially on the central axis and spaced from the bottom of the crucible by a distance equal to or less than the crucible height. The crucible is restrained against rotation about its own axis.

Apparatus for automatically fluxing and casting samples

Wet chemical, microcomputer-controlled procedure for the rapid dissolution of metal followed by accurate determination of elements in the sample and, more specifically, suited to meet steel industry requirements for control of the level of acid-soluble aluminum in steel during the making of steel, is described. A sample of steel to be tested is normally placed in an electrolytic cell wherein a known portion of the sample is dissolved electrolytically in dilute cold acid. The aluminum content of the resulting solution is determined spectrophotometrically. The apparatus is compact and readily installed near the steelmaking operation.

Metal analysis for acid-soluble elements

This invention provides a process and apparatus for determining the energy absorbed by a test-piece of material during its fracture. The test-piece is supported horizontally between two separated anvils, and a dropweight is released from a position above the test-piece so that the same can be struck and fractured. Means are provided for determining, by measuring a determining characteristic of the motion of the dropweight after the test-piece has been fractured, the theoretical height from which the dropweight would have had to be released in order to have that post-fracture motion if the test-piece had not been in the way. The difference between this calculated theoretical height and the actual height of release, multiplied by the weight of the dropweight, provides a measure of the energy absorbed by the test-piece during its fracture.

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Burlington, Canada

John H Kelly