Manufacturing of Heavy Plates with Excellent Mechanical Properties by a 40t ESR Furnace for Slab Products

A special bifilar 40t electroslag remelting(ESR) furnace for slab products has been fabricated to produce heavy plates for special application. The slab ingots were rolled to heavy plates, and then the mechanical properties of which were investigated. The impact toughness of heavy plates with different position, directions and under welding condition were performed at the temperature ranging from -70°C to room temperature. The tensile experiments at room temperature were carried out to check the tensile properties of heavy plates in different position, directions and under welding condition. The secondary cooling technology developed improves greatly the quality of solidification. Adjusting taper of the mold and using CaF2-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO slag are necessary for improving surface quality of the ESR slab. The ESR slabs with the maximum thickness of the world in size of 980 mm thickness, 2000 mm wideness and 2800 mm length have been produced successfully. The heavy plates with 410 mm in thickness can be obtained after rolling the 40 tons ESR slabs. The results of mechanical properties show that the heavy plates produced by ESR furnace for slab products exhibits excellent ductility, impact and isotropic properties in different position, directions and under welding condition.