Morphology Evolution and Phase Interactions of Fe-containing Si3N4 in Vacuum High-temperature Environment

作者:Li, Bin; Chen, Junhong*; Yan, Mingwei; Su, Jindong; Sun, Jialin; Li, Yong
来源:ISIJ International, 2016, 56(2): 189-194.
DOI:10.2355/isijinternational.ISIJINT-2015-487

摘要

To study the substitution of Fe3Si-Si3N4 for refractories in the upper RH refiner, this paper simulated the service condition of RH refining and studied the change of the Fe3Si-Si3N4 in the simulated condition. A Fe3Si-Si3N4 specimen prepared by flash combustion was put in a vacuum sintering furnace with carbon lining, fired at 1 450 degrees C under 80 Pa of vacuum degree for 2 h, and then cooled. The morphological evolution before and after being treated and phase interactions of the Fe3Si-Si3N4 specimen were studied and analyzed thermodynamically and dynamically. The results show that at high temperatures in vacuum, Fe volatilizes from the Fe3Si melt in Fe3Si-Si3N4 and reacts with Si3N4 on the Si3N4 crystal surface, forming new Fe),Si melt there; then Fe continues to volatilize from the new FexSi melt, causing FexSi alloy particles finer and more uniform in Fe3Si-Si3N4; the hexagonal columnar Si3N4 crystals begin to decompose partially, and become cylindrical with edges and corners disappearing; during prebaking or operation interval of RH refining, a SiO2 film which has better stability than Si3N4 is developed on the surface of Si3N4 crystals or Fe3Si-Si3N4 bricks, preventing the decomposition of Si3N4 and improving the application feasibility of Fe3Si-Si3N4 in RH refining.