Alloy Cost Optimization Through Proper Metallurgical Development of Strength and Ductility Properties in Structural Steels

摘要

Commodity grade structural steels produced in both flat and long products used in the construction sector represent approximately over 500 million annual tons worldwide. Alloys along with energy and labor represent major costs in the production of structural steels. Alloy costs and operational efficiencies can be realized with a proper understanding of how to design the alloy in conjunction with the mills processing capabilities to achieve the desired end metallurgy/ mechanical properties. Requirements of strength and ductility for any given structural steel microstructure are obtained from three metallurgical mechanisms or "building blocks": a) grain size refinement, b) solid solution and c) precipitation [1,2]. Alloy costs can be minimized if better engineering of these contributions can be realized. The correct use of these factors brings in addition process/mechanical property stability resulting in corresponding reductions in yield losses. Use of practical metallurgical modeling tools along with mill data to determine process control capabilities can also assist in alloy designs for cost optimization.