TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimization of the Two- and Three-DimensionalCharacterization of Rare Earth-Traced Deoxidation Products
AU - Thiele, Kathrin
AU - Musi, Robert
AU - Ramesh Babu, Shashank
AU - Michelic, Susanne Katharina
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Engineering Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
PY - 2023/2/15
Y1 - 2023/2/15
N2 - Tracing by means of the light rare earths (REs), particularly La and Ce, is a state-of-the-art method used to track deoxidation products during the steelmaking process. Traced heterogeneous multiphase inclusions are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) to perform a 2D characterization. The sequential chemical extraction technique is implemented for a 3D investigation to determine traced particles’ actual sizes and shapes. The automated SEM/EDS measurement must be optimized since RE oxides appear brighter in the backscattered electron images due to their high atomic numbers. Therefore, two grayscales are implemented for the detection of RE-containing multiphase inclusions. Within this technique, individual RE-traced heterogeneous nonmetallic inclusions (NMIs) are counted as separate particles. Thus, the measured NMIs must be recombined, which is achieved using a self-developed MATLAB tool. The extracted particles are also analyzed by automated and manual SEM/EDS measurements to determine the 3D morphologies and sizes of traced NMIs.
AB - Tracing by means of the light rare earths (REs), particularly La and Ce, is a state-of-the-art method used to track deoxidation products during the steelmaking process. Traced heterogeneous multiphase inclusions are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) to perform a 2D characterization. The sequential chemical extraction technique is implemented for a 3D investigation to determine traced particles’ actual sizes and shapes. The automated SEM/EDS measurement must be optimized since RE oxides appear brighter in the backscattered electron images due to their high atomic numbers. Therefore, two grayscales are implemented for the detection of RE-containing multiphase inclusions. Within this technique, individual RE-traced heterogeneous nonmetallic inclusions (NMIs) are counted as separate particles. Thus, the measured NMIs must be recombined, which is achieved using a self-developed MATLAB tool. The extracted particles are also analyzed by automated and manual SEM/EDS measurements to determine the 3D morphologies and sizes of traced NMIs.
KW - Non-metallic inclusions
KW - steel cleanness
KW - rare-earth elements
KW - deoxidation
KW - characterization methods
KW - automated SEM/EDS
KW - chemical extraction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148874387&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/adem.202201748
DO - 10.1002/adem.202201748
M3 - Article
SN - 1527-2648
VL - 25.2023
JO - Advanced engineering materials
JF - Advanced engineering materials
IS - 11
M1 - 2201748
ER -