Fabrication of a high-strength steel article with inclusion control during melting
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsEdward Lee Raymond, Mark Alan Rhoads, Glenn Charles Culbertson
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Abstract
A steel article is fabricated by providing an iron-base alloy having less than about 0.5 weight percent aluminum, melting the alloy to form a melt, adding calcium to the melt, thereafter adding aluminum to the melt to increase the aluminum content of the melt to more than about 0.5 weight percent aluminum, and casting the melt to form a casting. Other calcium additions may be made simultaneously with the adding of aluminum, and after the adding of aluminum but before casting the melt. The calcium additions deoxidize the melt to minimize the formation of clustered aluminum-oxygen-based inclusions.
Claims14
A method for fabricating a steel article having more than about 0.5 weight percent aluminum, comprising the steps of
- providing an iron-base alloy;
- thereafter
- vacuum melting the alloy to form a melt, while reducing a free oxygen content of the melt to less than about 10 parts per million by weight;
- thereafter
- adding calcium to the melt;
- and thereafter
- casting the melt to form a casting having more than about 0.5 weight percent aluminum.
A method for fabricating a steel article, comprising the steps of
- providing an iron-base alloy having less than about 0.5 weight percent aluminum;
- thereafter
- vacuum melting the alloy to form a melt;
- thereafter
- adding aluminum to the melt to increase the aluminum content of the melt to from about 0.5 to about 1.3 weight percent aluminum;
- adding calcium to the melt;
- and thereafter
- casting the melt to form a casting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.