Email：star15@alloyssi.com
news
In the wave of steel smelting industry's pursuit of efficient production, quality upgrade and cost control, the application of new materials has become a key breakthrough. As a by-product of silicon metal production, silicon-carbon alloy, with its unique performance and significant economic value, has quickly stood out from a large number of additives, and become a popular material that smelting enterprises compete to adopt. This article will analyze the core reasons why silicon-carbon alloys are favored by the industry from the dimensions of performance advantages, functional applications, and cost-effectiveness.
Silicon-carbon alloy is a new type of composite alloy designed for converter smelting, whose main components are silicon and carbon, and contains a small amount of silica, phosphorus, sulfur and other impurities. As a derivative material of silicon metal production, silicon-carbon alloy not only realizes the secondary utilization of resources, but also fills the short board of traditional additives with low-cost and high-performance characteristics.
Through the secondary processing of silicon metal production waste, silicon carbon alloy not only reduces the cost of raw materials, but also reduces the generation of industrial waste.
In terms of physical properties, silicon-carbon alloys exhibit “light but tough” characteristics: their density is about 60-70% of that of steel, but their hardness far exceeds that of ordinary steel. In addition, its thermal conductivity is 30-50% higher than that of steel.
Silicon-carbon alloys also excel in terms of chemical stability. In the high-temperature environment of steelmaking above 1200℃, its oxidation resistance is 3-5 times higher than that of ordinary steel, and the dense oxide film formed on the surface gives it excellent corrosion resistance in acid and alkali media. The low expansion coefficient (about 1/2 of steel) ensures that it is not easy to be deformed when the temperature changes drastically, and it is suitable for the lining of metallurgical furnaces, chemical reactor parts and other harsh scenarios.
Silicon in silicon-carbon alloys has a strong affinity with oxygen, and can quickly convert the oxygen in the steel into silicon dioxide (SiO_2). Compared with traditional ferrosilicon deoxidizers, its deoxidizing efficiency is increased by 20%-30%, and the reaction process is free of steel splashing, which significantly reduces safety risks.
At the same time, the carbon element can precisely adjust the carbon content in the liquid steel to meet the composition requirements of different steel grades (e.g., high carbon steel, low carbon steel), avoiding unstable properties caused by fluctuations in carbon content.
By controlling the addition of silicon-carbon alloys, the silicon and carbon content in steel can be precisely adjusted. For example, the iron-silicon alloy formed by combining with the iron element can increase the hardness of steel by 15%-20% and the tensile strength by 10%-15%; the addition of molybdenum, tungsten, chromium and other elements can produce heat-resistant alloy steel that is resistant to high temperatures and corrosion, which is widely used in aviation engine components.
Optimization of Mechanical Properties: The synergistic effect of silicon and carbon elements can significantly improve the hardness, strength and elasticity of steel. For example, in the production of spring steel, the addition of silicon-carbon alloys can increase the elastic limit of steel by 15-20%; in tempered steel, the right amount of silicon can further enhance the strength of steel.
Corrosion-resistant and heat-resistant enhancement: Combined with molybdenum, tungsten, chromium and other alloying elements, silicon-carbon alloys can produce high-temperature, corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant alloy steels, which are widely used in high-end fields such as aircraft engines and nuclear power equipment.
Microstructure improvement: Silicon carbide (SiC) particles in the silicon carbon alloy can be used as the crystallization core to refine the grain structure of steel and change the graphite morphology. Data from a foundry company shows that after using SiC alloy, the scrap rate of castings is reduced by 18%, the rewelding rate is reduced by 22%, and the mechanical properties are significantly improved.
The market price of silicon-carbon alloy is only 60%-70% of ferrosilicon, and it can replace ferrosilicon, silicon carbide, carbon enhancers and other materials. For example, for a steel mill with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons, the use of silicon-carbon alloy can save more than 8 million yuan in raw material costs every year.
In addition, its multifunctional characteristics simplify the charging process, shorten the smelting cycle by 20-30 minutes, and reduce labor and energy costs. By improving the element recovery rate (silicon recovery rate increased to more than 92%) and steel qualification rate (from 88% to 95%), the comprehensive income of the enterprise has increased significantly.
In general steel smelting, silicon-carbon alloy simultaneously increases silicon and carbon, stabilizes the composition of molten iron, and refines the grain organization; in the casting field, its silicon carbide particles can be used as the core of graphite crystallization, which reduces the casting scrap rate by 12%-18%, and the reweld rate by 20%, which is especially suitable for the production of high-grade grey iron castings.
Silicon-carbon alloy is suitable for all kinds of general steel, casting deoxidation, and increase silicon, carbon, rapid deoxidation, early slag, reducing atmosphere, effectively improve the elemental recovery rate, greatly reduce smelting costs, can make the iron quality is stable, and has the refinement of grain, remove harmful impurities in the iron water, so that the iron water pouring temperature is high, the casting of the billet quality is good, the cost is low.
As silicon carbon alloy contains silicon and carbon, silicon into the iron during the melting process, carbon most of the combustion. It is worth reminding: the main element of the composite additives for the high content of silicon carbide offcuts, because silicon carbide (sic) microparticles into the casting to play a core base, through which the center of the formation of the core, the finer the more silicon carbide particles, the stronger the ability to generate nuclei.
At high temperatures in the silicon carbide alloy in the decomposition of silicon carbide, the ionic state of carbon is easy to react with oxygen, they are the first to reduce the oxidation of iron, and then become the crystallization of graphite core, so the addition of silicon carbide alloy melting of gray iron castings graphite organization is very good, this is inevitable, this is the direction of the advanced gray iron melting!
Silicon-carbon alloys show their irreplaceable value as “all-rounders” in both traditional general steel production and high-end special steel manufacturing. For smelting enterprises pursuing high efficiency, environmental protection and innovation, silicon-carbon alloy is not only a tool to cope with the current challenges, but also a strategic choice to seize the future market.
Copyright Notice © Anyang Jinsheng Metallurgical Materials Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Site Index Product Index
.jpg)
