Union Carbide Corporation

Earle M. Jorgensen Company

Rockne J Andreini

Stewart K Mehlman

Audley J Farmer

Svetlana Yaguchi

Ronald Joseph Selines

Balkishan Agrawal

Roland P Bury

Sveltana Yaguchi

A low-alloy steel suitable for use in caster shells for continuous aluminum casting operations. It has a lower carbon and chromium content than prior art steels, and exhibits high yield strength at elevated temperatures, excellent toughness over the entire temperature range of aluminum casting, and decreased heat checking.

Low alloy steel for caster shell applications

The present invention relates to a fully austenitic, nonmagnetic stainless steel which maintains the carbon concentration of the final steel near the solubility limit for carbon in the steel and adds columbium in an amount sufficient to stabilize the steel by columbium's preferential scavenging of carbon over chromium. This preferential scavenging substantially eliminates chromium carbide formation at grain boundaries in the solid solution of the final stainless steel product. A highly preferred stainless steel consists essentially of, by weight:

Stainless steel

The production of low hydrogen steel is achieved in subsurface pneumatic refining processes by proper melt practice ensuring adequate gas sparging during the overall refining sequences, minimal time delays in the latter stages of refining, and proper control of the vessel off-gas.

Method for producing low hydrogen content in steels produced by

Steel is produced by the argon-oxygen decarburization process which has a low hydrogen content, generally below 2 ppm.

Process to produce low hydrogen steel

The desired tap temperature may be obtained, without slopping, during subsurface pneumatic refining of steel by the addition to the melt of an oxidizable fuel material, such as aluminum, after decarburization has been substantially completed or after the carbon content has fallen below 0.50%.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Rockne J Andreini