Increasing awareness of environmental protection has made both governments and the industry aim for lowering carbon dioxide emissions. For the transport industry this means increasing engine efficiency, replacing fossil fuels with bio-based fuels or full electrification. For heavy-duty trucks, the first two options are currently the paths taken as short and mid-term solutions. These alternatives introduce new service conditions to the engines; namely higher combustion temperature and pressure, which will impose increased thermal and mechanical loads on the engine parts. In particular, the exhaust system parts must withstand constant thermal cycles in their normal operation. In heavy-duty trucks, exhaust systems are mostly manufactured from cast iron or cast steel. The usual materials, such as cast iron SiMo51 are reaching their maximum operating temperature, therefore new materials must come forward to fulfill new challenges. These materials oxidize at high temperatures forming different types of scales, which sometimes can act as protective barriers preventing their degradation. However, thermal cycles in the engine can impose new stresses and strains in these newly formed oxide scales, sometimes leading to spallation. A continuous spallation behavior in the exhaust systems is deleterious for the system, and the debris could also affect the downstream engine parts. This investigation focuses on the study of high temperature oxidation behavior of four iron-based candidate materials. Samples of two ductile cast irons and two austenitic stainless steels were exposed to thermal cycling in a simulated exhaust gas atmosphere at 850 °C, and to isothermal experiments at 850 °C and 900 °C in a stagnant air atmosphere. Additionally, the thermodynamics and kinetics were simulated using Thermo-Calc and Dictra software, respectively.  The results show that SiMo1000 grows a relatively thick iron-rich oxide layer with evidence of internal oxidation aided by the graphite shape exhibited by the alloy. The other cast iron Ni-Resist behaves better than SiMo1000, forming chromia and silica layers that prevent internal oxidation from occurring, although some spallation did occur in water containing atmospheres. 1.4832 behaved poorly compared to the other materials, entering into breakaway oxidation mode throughout all the exposures; therefore, it is not a material suited for high temperature service. HK30 was susceptible to water aided chromium evaporation but had a comparatively small mass change throughout the experiments; nonetheless, there was evidence of internal oxidation following interdendritic zones. Also casting defects were observed in these areas. Both might affect mechanical properties at high temperature. / Ökad miljömedvetenhet har gjort att både industri och politiker har satt upp mål för att sänka koldioxidutsläppen. För transportbranschen innebär detta till exempel ökad motoreffektivitet, att fossila bränslen ersätts med biobaserade bränslen eller full elektrifiering. För tunga lastbilar är de två första alternativen de som är aktuella på kort och medellång sikt. Dessa alternativ innebär nya förhållanden för motorn; nämligen högre förbränningstemperatur och -tryck, vilket kommer att öka termisk och mekanisk last på motorn. Detta är särskilt tydligt för avgassystemet, eftersom det utsätts för termisk cykling vid normal drift. Avgassystemet i en tung lastbil är oftast gjort i gjutjärn och ibland i gjutstål. Gjutjärnen, t ex segjärn SiMo51, börjar nu närma sig sin maximala driftstemperatur och nya material behöver introduceras. Vid höga temperaturer oxiderar dessa metalliska material och bildar olika typer av oxidskal. Beroende på sammansättningen på oxidskalet, kan det fungera som skydd för underliggande material. Termisk cykling kan ge spänningar i oxidskiktet som i sin tur kan ge flagning av skiktet. Om flagningen fortsätter kontinuerligt, förbrukas dels material, men flagorna kan också ge skador nedströms i avgassystemet. I detta arbete undersöks fyra järnbaserade kandidatmaterial avseende högtemperaturkorrosion. Prover av två gjutjärn och två austenitiska rostfria gjutstål exponerades dels isotermt vid 850 °C och 900 °C i stillastående luft, dels i experiment med termisk cykling i en simulerad flödande avgasatmosfär och varm temperatur 850 °C. Dessutom användes termodynamisk programvara (Thermo-Calc/DICTRA) för att simulera termodynamik och kinetik. Resultaten visar att SiMo1000 bildar ett relativt tjockt, järnrikt oxidskikt med viss inre oxidation som verkar följa grafitstråk i materialet. Det andra gjutjärnet, segjärnet Ni-Resist, beter sig bättre än SiMo1000 och bildar krom och kiseldioxidlager som förhindrar intern oxidation. Viss flagning observerades i den cykliska exponeringen. 1.4832 visade ett sämre beteende än de andra materialen och bildade inget skyddande oxidskikt, utan visade kontinuerlig massförlust i samtliga exponeringar. Detta material är därför inte lämpligt för de undersökta högtemperaturmiljöerna. HK30 visade låg massförlust i samtliga undersökningar med oxidation i interdendritiska områden. Även gjutfel som t ex porer observerades idessa områden. Båda kan påverka materialets mekaniska egenskaper vid dessa temperaturer.

Ny lagstiftning har lagt fokus på den tociska naturen av bly som legeringselement I mässingsprodukter. Vattenförsörjningssystem är av största oro där misstänkt blyläckage från mässingsprodukter hotar människors hälsa, världen över. Denna studie har utförts i syfte att karaktärisera bearbetbarheten av blyfria mässingslegeringar för att förse industrin med nödvändig information och underlätta att ersätta dagens blyade alternativ. Karaktäriseringen har fokuserat på två specifika bearbetningsprocesser, nämligen svarvning och borrning där intresset har legat hos skärkraftsgenerering och spånbildning. Svarvtesterna riktade sig mot att jämföra tre olika legeringar, CW511L, AquaNordicÒ och CW625N. De två förstnämnda är blyfria och CW625N är en medelblyhaltig mässingslegering. Borrtesterna riktade sig mot att karaktärisera vilken effekt borrgeometrier har på skärkraftsgenerering och spånbildning. Huvudfokus lades på inverkan av spånvinkel och borrdiameter. Borrtesterna utfördes endast på AquaNordicÒ. Resultaten har visat att, signifikant högre skärkrafter genereras vid svarvning av blyfria legeringar jämfört med blyfria. Det fanns emellertid ingen signifikant skillnad mellan de båda blyfria legeringarna avseende skärkrafter, medan spånbildning förbättrades för AquaNordicÒ . Borrtesterna har å andra sidan visat att bearbetningen hos den blyfria AquaNordicÒ -legeringen kan förbättras genom att öka på spånvinkeln och minska borrdiameter. Baserat på resultaten från det här avhandlingsarbetet har man dragit slutsatsen att bearbetningen av blyfria mässingslegeringar är tillräckligt bra för att kunna antas av industrin. Förbättring är dock nödvändig för att ersätta de blyeade alternativen helt. / Recent legislation has put focus on the toxic nature of lead as an alloying element in brass products. Watersupply systems are of biggest concern where suspected lead leakages from brass products are threatening human health. A comprehensive study has been conducted in order to characterize the machinability of lead-free brass alloys to provide the industry with necessary information to assist a replacement of the leaded alternatives. The characterization has focused on two particular machining processes, namely turning and drilling and has been based on cutting force generation and chip formation. While the turning tests aimed to characterize the machinability by comparing two lead-free alloys (CW511L and AquaNordic®) with a leaded alloy (CW625N), drilling tests aimed to characterize machinability of the lead-free AquaNordic® alloy particularly, with the main focus put on the impact of tool geometry on machinability. The results have shown that significantly higher cutting forces are generated during turning of lead-free alloys as compared to the leaded. There was, however, no significant difference between the two lead-free alloys regarding cutting forces while chip formation is improved for AquaNordic®. Drilling tests have shown that the machinability of the lead-free AquaNordic® alloy can be improved by increasing the tool rake angle and decreasing tool diameter. Based on the results from this thesis work, it has been concluded that the machinability of lead-free brass alloys is sufficiently good to be able to be adopted by the industry. However, improvement is necessary inorder to fulfill the requirement needed to replace the leaded alternatives.

Thermo-Calc software AB develops high quality thermodynamic and kinetic databases to predict and simulate accurately multi-component phase behaviour in complex systems. One problem with their Ni-based alloys and superalloy solutions database (TCNI8) is poor description of tungsten partitioning for multi-component nickel based alloys. This work investigates the thermodynamic description of some lower-order systems i.e., Ni-W, Al-Ni-W and Cr-Ni-W by performing key experiments on three binary Ni-W alloys, and two ternary alloys (Al-Ni-W and Cr-Ni-W). Experiments at four different temperatures were carried out in which alloys were homogenized, equilibrated, quenched and investigated to determine the equilibrium solid/liquid compositions. Experimental results are used to validate the thermodynamic descriptions of the liquid and the fcc phase. Unlike ternary Al-Ni-W and Cr-Ni-W, binary Ni-W reproduced the experimental information in a satisfactory way. Ternary parameters for fcc are changed to fit the experimental results of this work. The findings of this work highlight that ternary parameters for the fcc of Al-Ni-W and Cr-Ni-W systems significantly effect the tungsten partitioning values in higher order systems. / Thermo-Calc Software AB utvecklar termodynamiska och kinetiska databaser av hög kvalitet för att korrekt kunna förutsäga och simulera jämvikter och fasomvandlingar i komplexa flerkomponentsystem. Ett problem med deras databas för Ni-baslegeringar och superlegeringar (TCNI8) är att beskrivning av volframpartitionering stämmer dåligt för nickelbaslegeringar. I detta arbete undersöktes den termodynamiska beskrivningen av vissa lägre system, dvs Ni-W, Al-Ni-W och Cr-Ni-W genom att utföra nyckelförsök på tre binära Ni-W-legeringar och två ternära legeringar (Al-Ni-W och Cr-Ni-W). Experimentvid fyra temperaturer utfördes i vilka legeringarna homogeniserades,jämviktsbehandlades, släcktes och undersöktes för att bestämma sammansättning för jämvikt fast fas/smälta. De erhållna experimentella resultaten användes för att validera den termodynamiska beskrivningen av smältan och fcc-fasen. Till skillnad från ternära Al-Ni-W ochCr-Ni-W, reproducerade den experimentella informationen den binära Ni-W-beskrivningen tillfredsställande. Ternära parametrar för fcc justerades efter de experimentella resultaten från detta arbete. Resultaten visar att de ternära parametrarna för fcc i Al-Ni-W och Cr-Ni-W systemen signifikant påverkar volframs fördelning mellan fast fas och smälta i nickelbaslegeringar.

Paper and pulp industry and steel industry are two major industries in Sweden, both of which are facing big challenges to treat their waste products properly. In this thesis work, initial evaluation of mechanical properties of briquettes made of waste products was performed. Three different CaO-containing waste products (Mesa, Kalk, Fly Ash) from Stora Enso and SCA were pressed with one kind of binding material (AOD slag) from Outokumpu. Drop tests were carried out to test the impact strength of the lab-made briquettes. Three different parameters were investigated of their influence on the impact strength of the briquettes: 1) Composition of briquettes 2) Heat treatment procedure 3) Exposure time to open air. A total of 97 briquettes were pressed. Drop test results show that for different material based briquettes, heat-treatment and exposure to open air had different influence on the final impact strength. In order to get best impact strength, MB briquettes (90% Mesa +10% AOD slag) heat treated at 850℃, KB briquettes (90% Kalk +10% AOD slag) heat treated at 850℃ and FC briquettes (80% Fly Ash + 20% AOD slag) exposed to open air for 20 days are recommended. Melting experiment was carried out to investigate the sulphur removal ability of the briquettes in metallurgical processes. Thermodynamic calculation of sulphide capacity was done. / Pappers-, massa och stålindustrin är två stora industrier i Sverige, vilka båda står inför stora utmaningar för att hantera sina avfallsprodukter på rätt sätt. I denna avhandling utfördes en första utvärdering av mekaniska egenskaper hos briketter av avfallsprodukter. Tre olika CaO- innehållande avfallsprodukter (Mesa, Kalk, Fly Ash) från Stora Enso och SCA pressades med ett   bindande   material   (AOD   slagg)   från   Outokumpu.   Dropptest   utfördes   för   att   testa slaghållfastheten hos de laboratoriegjorda briketterna. Tre  olika  parametrar  undersöktes  av  deras  påverkan  på  briketternas  slaghållfasthet:  1) Brikets sammansättning 2) Värmebehandlingsförfarande 3) Exponeringstid för friluft. Totalt 97 briketter pressades. Dropptestresultat visar att för olika materialbaserade briketter hade värmebehandling   och   exponering   för   utomhusluft   ett   annat   inflytande   på   den   slutliga slagstyrkan.  För  att  få  bästa  slaghållfasthet,  värmebehandlades  MB-briketter  (90%  Mesa  + 10% AOD-slagg) värmebehandlad vid 850 ° C, KB-briketter (90% Kalk + 10% AOD-slagg) vid 850  °  C  och  FC-briketter  (80%  Fly  Ask  +  20%  AOD  slagg)  utsatt  för  öppen  luft  i  20  dagar rekommenderas. Smältningsexperiment utfördes för att undersöka svavelfjernningsförmågan hos briketterna imetallurgiska processer. Termodynamisk beräkning av sulfidkapacitet gjordes.

This study was conducted to evaluate if Polonite® could remove Phosphorus from Sandvik’s wastewater that naturally forms during steelmaking, and hence be proficiently used as a precursor of the neutralization process of said steel plant. Currently lime (CaO) is mixed with the wastewater which creates clean water and sediments, that later need to be landfilled. Due to the high Phosphorus content in the sediments these cannot be recycled back into the production, this result in a loss of important elements. The aim is therefore to remove the Phosphorus to a target level of 1-2 [mg/L]. In fact, the Phosphorus present in the wastewater drifts in the solid particles derived by the neutralization process, impairing their possible recirculation as slag builders. To evaluate the purifying abilities of Polonite® a batch test and a column test were conducted. During the column test measurements of pH and conductivity were made. To analyze the composition, Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) tests were performed. No clear correlation between the pH and the conductivity of the water could be established from the results. Overall the Polonite® removed high amount of Phosphorus from the wastewater. The target level of 1-2 [mg/L] Phosphorus was achieved in the batch test. Although, Polonite® also incidentally absorbed most of the Fluorine present in the wastewater making it a questionable choice for the process, as Fluorine is desirable in large quantities in the sediments if used as slag builders. As no ICP results were received from the column test only pH and conductivity are discussed. / Denna studie utfördes för att utvärdera om Polonite® kunde rena Fosfor från Sandvik’s avfallsvatten som naturligt uppkommer från stålprocesserna, och använda det som ett försteg i neutraliseringsprocessen. Idag blandas kalk (CaO) med avfallsvattnet vilket resulterar i rent vatten och sediment, dessa deponeras sedan. På grund av den höga halten Fosfor i sedimenten kan dessa inte återcirkuleras in i produktionen, detta leder till att viktiga ämnen går förlorade. Målet är därför att sänka halten Fosfor till en nivå på 1-2 [mg/L]. Fosfor i avfallsvattnet driver i de fasta partiklarna från neutraliseringsprocessen, vilket förhindrar möjligheterna att återanvända dem som slaggbildare. För att utvärdera Polonites® reningsförmåga gjordes ett kolumntest och ett skaktest. Under kolumntestet mättes pH och konduktivitet. För att analysera innehållet i vattnet gjordes ICP-tester på det renade vattnet. Inget tydligt samband mellan konduktiviteten och pH kunde fastställas från resultaten. Överlag hade Polonite® en hög grad av rening av Fosfor. Den givna mängden av Fosfor uppnåddes i skaktestet. Olyckligtvis hade Polonite® även en hög reningsgrad av Fluor som även fanns i avfallsvattnet, vilket gjorde Polonite® tvivelaktigt försteg i denna process, då Fluorrikt vatten är önskat för att kunna användas som slaggbildare. Då inga ICP-resultat har mottagits diskuteras enbart pH och konduktivitet för kolumntesterna.

For many metal components the presence of hard, non-metallic inclusions such as oxides lowers the impact toughness by acting as fracture initiation points and easing crack propagation. In components produced by powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing (PM HIP), oxides often form a continuous network of small, spherical inclusions after consolidation at the prior particle boundaries (PPB). It is therefore of great importance to reduce surface oxides before consolidation in order to improve mechanical properties. In this work, oxides were attempted to be reduced directly prior to the consolidation of one tool steel and one low-alloy steel by introducing H2 into sealed PM HIP capsules. The two H2-carriers were hollow glass microspheres and the compound ammonia borane (H3NBH3). The H2-carriers were placed separately from the metal powder. Microspheres were filled at 300 °C with a gas mixture at 675 bar resulting in a storage capacity of 0.16 wt%. Gaseous species released from the H2-carriers during heating were analysed by mass spectrometry. Results showed that the microspheres only release H2 while ammonia borane in addition releases other nitrogen and boron containing species. Impact testing as well as chemical and microstructural analysis were performed on the two consolidated materials with samples retrieved from different vertical and radial positions. Both H2-carriers had leaked into the material resulting in decreased impact toughness compared to the reference. Further from the source of the contaminants, oxygen content was reduced and impact toughness was improved. Microspheres showed overall better reduction ability even though they release less hydrogen compared to ammonia borane. Impact toughness was not improved as much with ammonia borane even though similar oxygen levels were achieved. Ammonia borane’s decomposition products likely obstruct the oxide reduction or introduce new inclusions lowering the impact toughness. / Det är för många metallkomponenter viktigt att så mycket som möjligt undvika hårda, icke metalliska inneslutningar. Detta eftersom de sänker slagsegheten genom sprickinitiering men även genom att underlätta spricktillväxt. Ytoxider i komponenter tillverkade genom pulvermetallurgisk het-isostatisk pressning (PM HIP) bildar ofta ett kontinuerligt nätverk av små, sfäriska inneslutningar efter konsolidering vid de tidigare partikelgränserna. Det är därför viktigt att reducera ytoxider före konsolidering för att förbättra de mekaniska egenskaperna av komponenter tillverkade genom PM HIP. I detta examensarbete har ytoxider reduceras direkt före konsolidering av ett låglegerat stål och ett verktygsstål genom att tillsätta H2 i de förseglade PM HIP kapslarna. Två vätgasbärare testades, ihåliga mikrosfärer av glas och ammoniak boran (H3NBH3). Vätgasbärarna var placerade i ett område avskilt från metallpulvret. Mikrosfärerna fylldes med en gasblandning vid 675 bar och 300 °C vilket resulterade i en lagringskapacitet på 0.16 vikt%. Gaser som frigjordes från vätgasbärarna vid uppvärmning analyserades med en masspektrometer. Resultatet visade att mikrosfärerna bara frigör H2 medan ammoniak boran också frigör andra ämnen innehållande kväve och bor. Slagprovning och analys av mikrostruktur samt syre- och kvävehalter utfördes på de två konsoliderade materialen med prover från olika vertikala och radiella positioner. Båda vätgasbärarna hade läckt in i materialet vilket resulterade i minskad slagseghet jämfört med referensmaterialet. Längre från vätgasbärarnas ursprungsposition var slagsegheten bättre och syrehalten lägre. De vätgasfyllda mikrosfärerna uppvisade överlag bättre förmåga att minska syrehalten trots att de innehöll mindre H2 jämfört med ammoniak boran. Slagsegheten förbättrades inte lika mycket med ammoniak boran trots att liknade syrenivåer uppmättes. Ammoniak boranets pyrolysprodukter förhindrar möjligtvis oxidreduktionen eller introducerar nya inneslutningar som resulterar i en försämrad slagseghet.

Metastable austenitic and duplex stainless steels are widely used materials in industrial anddomestic applications, owing to their attractive characteristics such as good corrosion resistanceand favorable mechanical properties. Both types of steel experience enhanced mechanicalproperties during plastic deformation due to the formation of the martensite phase from theparent austenite phase, this is called deformation-induced martensitic transformation (DIMT).It is therefore of technical interest to study the transformation mechanism and its impact onmechanical properties for a better understanding and ultimately for developing new materialswith improved performance in certain applications. In the present thesis, two austenitic stainless steels (201Cu, HyTens® 301) and two duplexstainless steels (FDX25®, FDX27®) were investigated. Samples were tensile tested during insitusynchrotron radiation experiments performed at the Cornell High Energy SynchrotronSource (CHESS), Ithaca, USA. Tests were performed at both room temperature and at elevatedtemperatures. The collected diffraction data were then processed by software such as Fit2D andMATLAB. Quantitative phase fraction analysis based on the direct comparison method wasperformed successfully. Microstructural analysis of samples before deformation and after thefull tensile testing was also performed using electron microscopy. The deformation induced martensitic transformation took place in HyTens 301, FDX25 andFDX27, but in 201Cu the austenite was stable during the tensile tests conducted here. The a’-martensite formed in a significantly higher fraction than the ε-martensite in all alloys. At roomtemperature, the critical stress levels for martensitic transformation were 490 MPa, 700 MPaand 700MPa for HyTens 301, FDX25 and FDX27, respectively.

The high temperature microstructure of the solid phases within the electric arc furnace (EAF) slag has a large effect on the process features such as foamability of the slag, chromium recovery, consumption of the ferroalloys and the wear rate of the refractory. The knowledge of the microstructural and compositional evolution of the slag phases during the EAF process stages is necessary for a good slag praxis. In supplement 1, an investigation of the typical characteristics of EAF slags in the production of the AISI 304L stainless steel was carried out. In addition, compositional and microstructural evolution of the slag during the different EAF process stages was also investigated. Computational thermodynamics was also used as a tool to predict the equilibrium phases in the top slag as well as the amount of these phases at the process temperatures. Furthermore, the influence of different parameters (MgO wt%, Cr2O3 wt%, temperature and the top slag basicity) on the amount of the spinel phase in the slag was studied. In supplement 2, a novel study to characterize the electric arc furnace (EAF) slags in the production of duplex stainless steel at the process temperatures was performed. The investigation was focused on determining the microstructural and compositional evolution of the EAF slag during and at the end of the refining period. Slag samples were collected from 14 heats of AISI 304L steel (2 slag samples per heat) and 7 heats of duplex steel (3 slags sample per heat). Simultaneously with each slag sampling, the temperature of the slag was measured. The selected slag samples were studied both using SEM-EDS and LOM. In some cases (supplement 2), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were also performed on fine-powdered samples to confirm the existence of the observed phases. It was observed that at the process temperature and at all process stages, the stainless steel EAF slag consists mainly of liquid oxides, magnesiochromite spinel particles and metallic droplets. Under normal operation and at the final stages of the EAF, 304L steelmaking slag contains 2-6 wt% magnesiochromite spinel crystals. It was also found that, within the compositional range of the slag samples, the only critical parameter affecting the amount of solid spinel particles in the slag is the chromium oxide content. Petrographical investigation of the EAF duplex stainless steelmaking showed that, before FeSi-addition, the slag samples contain large amounts of undissolved particles and the apparent viscosity of the slag is higher, relative to the subsequent stages. In this stage, the slag also includes solid stoichiometric calcium chromite. It was also found that, after FeSi-injection into the EAF and during the refining period, the composition and the basicity of the slag in the EAF duplex steelmaking and EAF stainless steelmaking are fairly similar. This indicates that, during the refining period, the basic condition for the utilization of an EAF foaming-slag praxis, in both austenitic and duplex stainless steel cases, is the same. Depending on the slag basicity, the slag may contain perovskite and/or dicalcium silicate too. More specifically, the duplex stainless steel slag samples with a higher basicity than 1.55 found to contain perovskite crystals. / QC 20110413

Continuous caster moulds are the last and most important stage in the steelmaking process, where inclusions can either be generated or removed. With increasing casting speed using conventional immersion nozzles critical problems, such as unstable bulk mould flow have been noticed. Mould flux entrapment due to vortex and shearing action from the oscillating surface waves have become of particular concern. It is therefore necessary to have a calm inlet flow at the entrance of the mould. Recently, it has been acknowledged that a swirl blade placed at the upstream of the immersion nozzle effectively resolves the problems arising from unstable bulk mould flow. Therefore, to increase the knowledge of effect of swirling flow on the flow pattern in the mould, fundamental mathematical models of a billet mould equipped with a swirl blade in the nozzle have been developed. The model was used to study the effect of divergent angle of the immersion nozzle and mould aspect ratio on the flow field and temperature distribution inside billets moulds. Data from water model experiments were used to verify the mathematical model predictions. A fairly good agreement was found between physical modeling data and predictions, which ensured that the numerical model is reliable. Thereafter, the differences between square and round billet moulds were studied. Next, the effect of changing aspect ratio of the rectangular mould on the fluid flow and heat transfer, while keeping mould surface area constant, was studied. Two types of immersion nozzles, bottomless and conventional, were also analyzed during the research. The model moulds were changed gradually from a square billet with an aspect ratio of 1x1 to a rectangular billet with an aspect ratio of 3x1. First, the temperature and velocity distributions were calculated. Later, unsteady calculations were done to determine velocity fluctuations on the meniscus level for two types of nozzles and several moulds geometries. / <p>QC 20101110</p>

The focus of this thesis is to develop a simulation model for predicting ductile fractures during hot working at Alleima. The main fracture mechanism in these conditions is ductile fracture by void coalescence. The ductile fractures are caused by the linking of voids that appear when there is large plastic deformation near second-phase particles. The chosen method to simulate these was to use a Ductile Fracture Criterion (DFC), which builds on using FE models with a damage parameter. Two criteria were selected to be tested. The austenitic stainless-steel alloy 316L was selected as material for this work. Using the Gleeble 3500 system, hot tension and compression experiments were performed to gather data needed for the simulation models as well as inducing ductile fractures. Rupture occurred for all the hot tension samples and cracks were found for only one of the hot compression experiments. Using data from the Gleeble tests, a separate simulation model for each of the setups were created using the finite element software Marc/Mentat. A flow stress model for 316L was developed. Results from the simulations show that both selected DFCs can be used to predict ductile fractures. Particularly for hot tension. It was shown that it is important to model the temperature gradient in the sample accurately. For hot compression, it was difficult to conclude if the criterions were able to predict fracture since only one data point was available. The thesis concludes that there could be of interest with continued work using DFCs at Alleima.