Hot cracking behavior of Fe-Ni alloys was investigated by using a high-speed camera to observe hot cracking in samples that were temperature-gradient heated and tensile deformed. The susceptibility to hot cracking was reliably evaluated based on critical strain and crack propagation length as functions of Ni content and cool side temperature. Grain size and shape in the brittle temperature region depended on liquid boundary migration due to solute diffusion within the liquid boundary under temperature gradient. High susceptibility to hot cracking of Fe-Ni alloys could be explained by the high sulfur segregation near the grain boundary and the large grain size within the solid/liquid coexisting region due to the rapid migration of the liquid boundary.KEY WORDS: hot cracking; continuous casting; Fe-Ni alloys; grain growth; sulfur segregation; direct observation of hot cracking; temperature-gradient tensile test. ent direction, and examined metallographically. Samples with hot cracks were dipped in liquid nitrogen and fractured by impact to reveal the crack surface. Auger analysis was performed in a Physical Electronics Phi 600 Auger microprobe by slicing off the measured surfaces at a rate of 0.217 nm/s to investigate the microsegregation near the crack surface.
Experimental Results
Evaluation of Crack SusceptibilityFigure 2 shows hot crack occurrence followed by melt flowing into the crack near the hot surface during tensile deformation. Only a portion of the specimen's width is shown due to the cover that prevents heat loss. In order to evaluate critical strain for hot cracking, it is necessary to know the length of the uniform deformation zone, the exact time deformation started and the time the crack occurred. Figure 3 shows the measured displacements of various positions within the deformation zone using a program that allows tracking a movement in any position during hot deformation. From this result and the fact that only the upper jig in the tester moves up during the tensile test, the length of the uniform deformation zone could be defined by roughly ISIJ International, Vol. 43 (2003) assuming the curve of displacements and the relative positions of the measured points to be linear. The times of initial deformation and crack occurrence could also be determined through tracking the movements of points within the deformation zone. Figure 4 shows that the critical strain, using the above method, is sharply decreased from 5.3 to 2.2 % with increases of Ni content from 0.021 to 3.35 % and slowly decreased thereafter. Austenite phases formed during solidification cause larger microsegregation 12,13) due to much lower diffusivities of solute elements in Austenite phases than in Delta ferrite phases. The sharp decrease in critical strain up to ϳ3.5 % Ni may correspond to the fact that residence time during solidification within Delta ferrite phase decreases with increases in Ni content and according to the Fe-Ni phase diagram, the Austenite phase starts to form from Ͼϳ4.1 % Ni. Figure 5 shows that critical str...