Preface to the Special Issue on 'Cutting Edge of Studies in Inclusions and Precipitates Behavior Related to Microstructure Control'

摘要

The influence of inclusions and precipitates on the mechanical properties of steel materials is partly deriving from the processing during secondary refining and casting. In addition, the thermo-mechanical treatment such as heating and rolling has a large influence on the final material properties of steel. For both carbon steels and alloyed steels, the comprehensive understanding of inclusion and precipitate behavior during the overall process is very important. More specifically, this includes the nucleation and growth in the refining and the casting processes, the subsequent transformation during the thermo-mechanical treatment process as well as the application in microstructure control. This combined knowledge is often referred to as "Oxide Metallurgy".