In this study, the goal is to optimize the process and to reduce the clogging tendency during the continuous casting process. The focus is on clogging when the refractory base material (RBM) in the SEN is in contact with the liquid steel. It is difficult or impossible to avoid non-metallic inclusions in the liquid steel, but by a selection of a good RBM in the SEN clogging can be reduced.   Different process steps were evaluated during the casting process in order to reduce the clogging tendency. First, the preheating of the SEN was studied. The results showed that the SEN can be decarburized during the preheating process. In addition, decarburization of SEN causes a larger risk for clogging. Two types of plasma coatings were implemented to protect the RBM, to prevent reactions with the RBM, and to reduce the clogging tendency. Calcium titanate (CaTiO3) mixed with yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) plasma coatings were tested in laboratory and pilot plant trials, for casting of aluminium-killed low-carbon steels. For casting of cerium alloyed stainless steels, YSZ plasma coatings were tested in laboratory, pilot plant and industrial trials. The results showed that the clogging tendency was reduced when implementing both coating materials.   It is also of importance to produce clean steel in order to reduce clogging. Therefore, the steel cleanliness in the tundish was studied experimentally. The result showed that inclusions originated from the slag, deoxidation products and tundish refractory and that they were present in the tundish as well as in the final steel product. / <p>QC 20170227</p> / VINNOVA

La rupture adhésive est un mécanisme de défaillance fréquemment observé sur les structures multicouches et les pièces revêtues dans les technologies actuelles telles que la microélectronique, le biomédical ou l’aérospatial. Selon l’application visée et les sollicitations en service rencontrées, des propriétés d’adhérence minimales sont attendues.Le CEA Le Ripault étudie la tenue mécanique de systèmes revêtement/substrat. Deux assemblages constitués d’un revêtement projeté plasma, l’un céramique et l’autre métallique, sur un substrat fragile en céramique sont étudiés. Ces revêtements disposent d’une microstructure et de propriétés mécaniques bien spécifiques liées au procédé d’élaboration. L’un des objectifs de cette thèse est de caractériser et quantifier l’adhérence des revêtements projetés plasma aux moyens d’essais mécaniques. Classiquement, les essais d’adhérence sont largement développés pour l’étude de l’adhérence de revêtements céramiques sur substrats ductiles, pour des applications de type barrières thermiques. Or la grande fragilité des substrats et des revêtements représente des difficultés supplémentaires à la mise en œuvre des essais d’adhérence. Afin de prévenir la rupture cohésive du substrat, les essais nécessitent un effort d’adaptation tenant compte des contraintes dimensionnelles et matérielles imposées par l’assemblage. Par ailleurs, afin de caractériser intégralement l’adhérence, différents modes de sollicitation sont balayés à travers différents essais d’adhérence : traction, cisaillement bi-entaillé, clivage en coin, flexion 4 points sur éprouvette entaillée, four-point bend End Notched Flexure test (4-ENF),…Le second objectif est de prédire l’amorçage et la propagation de fissures à l’interface afin de garantir la tenue mécanique des assemblages. Pour cela, une stratégie d’identification d’une loi d’interface, décrivant son comportement à la rupture, est proposée. Les Modèles de Zones Cohésives (MZC) sont adoptés pour modéliser le délaminage, sous le code éléments finis ABAQUS, à l’aide d’une loi traction-séparation bilinéaire. La comparaison entre les réponses macroscopiques numérique et expérimentale de chacun des essais d’adhérence effectué permet de calibrer chaque paramètre de la loi cohésive. Ainsi, la démarche expérimentale et numérique couplée permet d’obtenir des scénarios de rupture conformes aux observations expérimentales et d’évaluer l’intégrité de la structure soumise à une sollicitation thermique ou mécanique donnée. / Interfacial cracking is a recurrent failure mechanism observed in multilayer structures and coating systems using in various fields as microelectronics, biomedical engineering or aerospace. According to the aimed application and operating loadings, a minimum adhesion of the interface is expected.CEA Le Ripault studies the mechanical strength of coating/substrate systems. Two multilayer structures made of plasma sprayed coating layer, one ceramic and the other metallic, on a brittle ceramic substrate are studied. These plasma sprayed coatings have specifics microstructure and mechanicals properties linked to manufacturing process.One of the purposes of this work is to characterize and quantify plasma sprayed coatings adhesion through mechanical tests. Adhesion tests are widely developed for study the adhesion of ceramic coatings on ductile substrates for thermal barrier coatings applications. However the high brittleness of substrates and coatings constitutes an additional difficulty to implement adhesion tests. In order to prevent cohesive failure in substrate, adhesion tests require an adaptation taking materials and dimensionals constraints into account. Furthermore, in order to fully characterize the adhesion, different loadings modes are scanned through various adhesion tests: tensile test, shear test, wedge test, four-point bending test, 4-ENF…The second purpose is to predict crack initiation and propagation along the interface in order to guarantee multilayer mechanical strength. In that purpose, an interfacial law identification strategy is proposed to describe failure behavior. A Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) is adopted to model the delamination, using the finite element code ABAQUS, with a bilinear traction-separation law. The numerical and experimental macroscopic response comparison of each performed adhesion test allows to identify one cohesive law parameter. Thus, the coupled approach allows to model failure scenario in good agreement with experimental observations and assess the integrity of the assembled structure under a thermal or a mechanical loading.

In this study, the goal is to optimize the process and to reduce the clogging tendency during the continuous casting process. The focus is on clogging when the refractory base material (RBM) in the SEN is in contact with the liquid steel. It is difficult or impossible to avoid non-metallic inclusions in the liquid steel, but by a selection of a good RBM in the SEN clogging can be reduced.   Different process steps were evaluated during the casting process in order to reduce the clogging tendency. First, the preheating of the SEN was studied. The results showed that the SEN can be decarburized during the preheating process. In addition, decarburization of SEN causes a larger risk for clogging. Two types of plasma coatings were implemented to protect the RBM, to prevent reactions with the RBM, and to reduce the clogging tendency. Calcium titanate (CaTiO3) mixed with yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) plasma coatings were tested in laboratory and pilot plant trials, for casting of aluminium-killed low-carbon steels. For casting of cerium alloyed stainless steels, YSZ plasma coatings were tested in laboratory, pilot plant and industrial trials. The results showed that the clogging tendency was reduced when implementing both coating materials.   It is also of importance to produce clean steel in order to reduce clogging. Therefore, the steel cleanliness in the tundish was studied experimentally. The result showed that inclusions originated from the slag, deoxidation products and tundish refractory and that they were present in the tundish as well as in the final steel product. / VINNOVA