Quality Improvement in High Carbon Eutectoid Grade Steel Wire Rods for Tire Cord Application

EasyChair Preprint 9324

Abstract

High carbon eutectoid grade steel is widely used for tire cord application and requires low grain boundary carbides, low alumina and titanium nitride inclusions to avoid filament breaks during final wire drawing. Titanium nitride and alumina inclusions are non-deformable and have extremely high strength and could cause delamination and filament breaks during wire drawing. Cementite network at grain boundaries has been identified as a source of embrittlement in high carbon steels. Alumina and titanium nitride inclusions in high carbon eutectoid grade wire rods were therefore controlled in this study by the optimization of ladle slag chemistry, ferroalloy addition practice, argon bottom purging of ladle. Titanium nitride inclusions precipitate in steel during solidification even with low titanium and nitrogen content due to the effect of elemental segregation. This elemental segregation in billet was controlled by optimizing the continuous caster EMS parameters. Liquid steel super heat is controlled below 40 °C and continuous caster secondary cooling parameters were modified to reduce billet centerline carbon segregation and subsequent grain boundary carbide network in wire rods. Billet reheating temperature, stelmore conveyor laying head temperature and cooling pattern on stelmore conveyor at wire rod mill were also optimized to reduce the severity of grain boundary carbide network in wire rods.

Keyphrases: Alumina inclusions, Eutectoid grade steel, Grain boundary carbides, Titanium nitride inclusions

@booklet{EasyChair:9324,
  author    = {P Mallikarjuna Rao and D Satish Kumar and Veeresh Bellatti and G Balachandran},
  title     = {Quality Improvement in High Carbon Eutectoid Grade Steel Wire Rods for Tire Cord Application},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 9324},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2022}}