The viscosity, melting proprieties, and molten structure of the high-Al silicon–manganese slag of SiO2–CaO–25 mass% Al2O3–MgO–MnO–K2O system with a varying MgO and K2O content were studied. The results show that with the increase in MgO content from 4 to 10 mass%, the measured viscosity and flow activation energy decreases, but K2O has an effect on increasing those of slags. However, the melting temperature increases due to the formation of high-melting-point phase spinel. Meanwhile, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were conducted to understand the variation of slag structure. The O2− dissociates from MgO can interact with the O0 within Si–O or Al–O network structures, corresponding to the decrease in the trough depth of [SiO4] tetrahedral and [AlO4] tetrahedral. However, when K2O is added into the molten slag, the K+ can accelerate the formation of [AlO4] tetrahedra, resulting in the increase in O0 and O− and the polymerization of the structure.

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The mechanical properties of Zr-based alloys, such as strength and elongation, are heavily dependent on the cooling rate during heat treatment. Understanding the phase transformation and microstructural evolution in various cooling media can establish the connection between the cooling rate and mechanical properties. The effect of the cooling rate on the phase, microstructure, and tensile properties of Zr-4Hf-3Nb (wt%) alloy is studied in this paper. The results show that the phase composition of the samples transforms from α+β to α+β+ω, and, finally, to α+α’+ω, while the average grain size of α phase decreases from 3.73 μm to 1.96 μm, and the distribution varies from compact to scattering as the cooling rate increases. Hf tends to distribute in β phase, and the slower cooling rate is beneficial to the existence of Hf. The strength and microhardness enhances monotonously, while the elongation ascends first, then decreases as the cooling rate increases. The high strength of water-cooling samples is attributed to the reduction in average grain size and volume fraction of α phase, and the lath α’ martensite and granular ω phase. The fracture pattern of Zr-4Hf-3Nb (wt%) alloy is ductile fracture, and the plasticity gets better with decreasing cooling rate.

The effects and reduction mechanisms of carbothermic reduction of vanadium–titanium–magnetite were studied by adding various mass fractions of CaF2 ranging from 0%, 1%, 3%, 5% to 7%. The results showed that the proper CaF2 addition could strengthen the carbothermic reduction of vanadium–titanium–magnetite while the excessive amounts will weaken the promotive effect, hence the appropriate dosage was determined to be 3 mass%. The CaF2 was favorable for the carbon gasification reaction, where it increased the partial pressure of CO inside briquette and caused the lattice distortion of vanadium–titanium–magnetite. The reaction improved the reduction process and accelerated the reduction rate. The appearance of 3CaO·2SiO2·CaF2 and other complex compounds with low melting point facilitated the aggregation and growth of the slag and the iron, which increased the concentration of iron grains and the aggregation level of the slag.