The endogenous and exogenous non-metallic inclusions, which are normally present in steel, affect its castability and its mechanical properties. In the last decades, the control of amount, size, morphology and chemical composition of non-metallic inclusions has been extensively investigated, especially at the stage of refinement of steels. By controlling amount, size, distribution and chemical composition of inclusions, a steel product of better quality can be produced. To identify the nature of inclusions and the stages of the manufacturing process where they are formed is extremely important for the production of clean steels. The present work has as a main objective to investigate non-metallic inclusions in low carbon steel (SAE 1015), killed by aluminum. A method, which uses the expedient of dissolving totally or partially the ferritic matrix, is used. A scanning electronic microscope (SEM) connected to an energy-dispersive spectrometer system is then used to obtain, in a more accurate way, size, morphology and chemical composition of such inclusions without any interference caused by the ferritic matrix.
Non-metallic inclusions; Scanning electronic microscope (SEM); Ladle furnace; Ferritic matrix
