Recently, a“Good helper” ——Thermo-Calc thermodynamic calculation software has been successfully introduced into the research and development of stainless steel at JISCO, it plays an important role in shortening the development cycle of steel grades and reducing the cost of research and development.
For a long time, most researchers use related theory to calculate, and the laboratory means are limited, the process test plan hit rate, and the success rate is low. Wei Haixia,hot rolling product research engineer at the stainless steel research institute,introduced that there are few domestic experiences and related theoretical studies, especially for high-end products such as stainless steel 2507,904L, S31254 Austenitic stainless steel, and nickel-based alloys, R & D work has been limited.
With the stainless steel cost and transportation disadvantages gradually prominent, high-end, low-cost, market advantage has become a new development direction. In order to take the lead in product development, we must have a set of powerful theoretical research software and related database support.
Thermo-Calc, a thermodynamic software, has a powerful database for iron and steel materials and can be used to find quantitative relationships between composition/process-structure-properties of materials, the thermodynamic calculation was carried out from the equilibrium phase composition of steel, the effect of alloying, and the formation rule of precipitated phase. The software is widely used in universities, research institutes, and industries at home and abroad. It can reduce the cost of steel grade development, shorten the cycle of steel grade development and improve the overall level of technical research and development.
After in-depth technical exchanges with the software’s domestic general agent, the General Research Institute of Iron and steel, combined with the current stainless steel and carbon steel product structure of JISCO and the future development direction, JISCO has selected three modules of thermodynamic equilibrium calculation, diffusion kinetic calculation and nucleation and precipitation kinetics calculation, and five databases of TCFE10 Fe-based alloy thermodynamics and MOBFE5 Fe-based alloy mobility thermodynamics. The software server installed in the stainless steel research institute, connected to several clients, is now stainless steel and carbon steel sheet plant in Jiusteel and other steel plates share the use of the field.
With the help of the software, stainless steel R & D capacity has been dramatically enhanced. The binary phase diagram of Fe-Cu alloy was calculated by software during the development of copper-containing J304KJ stainless steel, and the enrichment rule of copper at different heating temperatures was observed by phase diagram calculation, furthermore, the composition of the steel-making and heating process was optimized to avoid surface crack of copper-containing J304KJ stainless steel during hot rolling.
By using the TC-PRISMA precipitation module, the precipitation and growth behavior of 347H steel after holding at different stabilizing temperatures were studied, and the particle size distribution, volume fraction, composition of the matrix and precipitated phase, critical radius, etc. were optimized to improve the high-temperature performance of 347H product.
Next, the Institute of stainless steel, carbon steel plate, strip research institute, and Wire Rod Research Institute of the relevant steel simulation technology exchange, to promote the application of the software. At the same time, through training, technical exchanges, and other applied research field expansion, combined with existing steel problems, to better guide the development of steel.
