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The microstructural changes of enamel, dentin-enamel junction (DEJ), and dentin after CO(2) laser irradiation were studied. Buccal enamel surfaces of human third molars about 2 mm from the DEJ were irradiated, and the laser tip was moved 5 mm in a mesiodistal direction with 5 s of irradiation time. The output powers were 2 to 10 W in a continuous mode, and the average doses were approximately from 250 to 1,250 J/cm(2). All specimens were examined by a scanning electron microscope, and heat-transfer simulation was also applied to calculate temperature distribution. Surface ablation of enamel and separation of enamel and dentin along the DEJ were observed when the laser power output exceeded 3 W. Heat-transfer simulation indicated that dentin was prone to store more thermal energy than enamel. In conclusion, operation parameters of the CO(2) laser should be carefully selected to avoid thermal damage to the DEJ.

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Generally, decreasing slag volume of blast furnace operation can lead to the lower fuel ratio and higher productivity. For high sinter ratio operation, one of effective ways to obtain a lower slag volume is to reduce the gangue content of sinter. Basically, lowering the amount of serpentine in the sinter mix is a feasible way to produce suitable sinter with the lower gangue content. However, this method may result in lower magnesium oxide content in the final slag that may affect its fluidity. Hence, the objective of this study was to understand the effect of MgO and Al 2 O 3 on the fluidity of final slag. The liquidus temperature and viscosity of semi-synthetic slag were measured using optical softening temperature device and viscometer, respectively, and the data were treated to develop the multiple-regression formula of SiO 2 Al 2 O 3 CaO MgOTiO 2 semi-synthetic slag for liquidus temperature, viscosity equations and iso-fluidity diagrams.The experimental results indicated that the lower liquidus temperature and the better viscosity stability lay in the area of MgO = 5.4%, Al 2 O 3 = 1015%, TiO 2 = 0.5% and C/S = 1.2 for the range of composition studied. Several observations in the iso-fluidity diagrams of blast furnace final slag have shown that liquidus temperature decreased with decreasing MgO content and the viscosity of slag could be regarded as being independent of MgO content in the range of MgO = 59%, Al 2 O 3 = 15%, C/S = 1.01.2. And, slag fluidity became worse with increasing Al 2 O 3 content under the conditions of MgO = 5.4%, C/S = 1.2. This study suggested the MgO contents could be lowered from current 6.5 to 5.4% in the conditions of Al 2 O 3 = 15%, C/S = 1.2 under the stable blast furnace operation with high thermal level. Furthermore, this recipe of lower MgO content (5.4%) had been implemented in CSC's BF operation to reduce the slag volume, and the formula of fluidity developed in this study had been installed in the process computer of all CSC's BFs to present slag fluidity in real time.

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