Corrosion resistant 13 percent Cr and 1 percent Ni cast steel are used to produce castings for the Kaplan, Pelton and Francis turbines. These cast steels have also a satisfactory cavitation resistance. The oxidation re-melting process, where oxygen is blown into the bath, was elaborated in order to reduce the gas content (hydrogen and nitrogen) in re-melted corrosion-resistant 13 percent Cr and 1 percent Ni steel scrap. This technology was tested on and elaborated for twenty-five melts, with special regard to oxygen-blowing conditions, mechanical properties (verified by the impact test) of the cast steel, and suppressing the formation of gas holes in the castings. Basic electric arc furnaces were used in the oxidation re-melting process of steel scrap. The measuring of bath temperature and oxygen activity in the bath, and the parallel sampling for chemical analysis of the bath were realised in the following melt periods: 1) after meltdown and heating before oxygen blowing; 2) immediately after the end of oxygen blowing; 3) at the beginning of the reduction period, after preliminary de-oxidation with Al, slag reduction and modification of chemical composition; 4) in the bath at the end of the reduction period; and 5) in the ladle, after tapping and SiCa deoxidation. Results of this measuring are given in Table 1 and the corresponding mechanical properties and impact test results for re-melted steels are in Table 2. The heat treatment of cast samples of re-melted corrosion-resistant steels was as follows: homogenisation annealing at 1150 deg C/(6-12 h - as a function of the wall thickness of castings)/(air cooling) plus hardening at 940 deg C/(4-6 h)/air cooling) and tempering at 720 deg C/(4-6 h)/(air cooling). The castings from the re-melted steel of this type were without bubbles.
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