Thermodynamics Behavior of Titanium for BOF Smelting Bearing Steel Original Research Article

When titanium element appears in bearing steel, it is very easy to create titanium nitride inclusion, which reduces the fatigue life of bearing steel. Based on the production data of bearing steel produced by BOF, it is found that the titanium takes its source in bearing steel; the factors affecting titanium content, and the thermodynamics behavior of titanium under smelting condition were studied. The results show that the prime reasons of titanium content increment are the soluble aluminum content and the titanium oxide of slag. The comparison between the experimental data and theoretical ones shows that there is a big declination when the soluble aluminum content of steel is higher, which is caused by the nonequilibrium reaction of slag and steel. The apparent equilibrium distribution coefficient of titanium between slag and steel is obtained by use of experimental data.