WANG Xuhui, YANG Jian, ZHANG Qingsong, BAI Yun, LU Mingxia, YIN Qing, WU Xiaolin, ZHANG Yinhui
MnS inclusions significantly affect the microstructure homogeneity and abnormal grain growth behavior during annealing of Mn-Cr high-quality gear steels. This study investigated the effect of manganese-to-sulfur ratio on the number, size, and aspect ratio of MnS inclusions in hot-rolled bars of 20MnCr5 gear steel. Inclusion analysis results showed that increasing the manganese-to-sulfur ratio w(Mn)/w(S) significantly improved the morphology of MnS inclusions, reduced their size and aspect ratio, and increased the number density. In low manganese-to-sulfur ratio steel MS54 (w(Mn)/w(S)=54), the number density of MnS inclusions per unit area was 152.5, accounting for 77.4% of all types of inclusions, among which sub-micron inclusions accounted for 26.7%, and inclusions smaller than 5 μm accounted for 92.1%. In high manganese-to-sulfur ratio steel MS103 (w(Mn)/w(S)=103), the number density of MnS inclusions per unit area increased to 211.3, accounting for 86.4% of all types of inclusions, among which sub-micron inclusions accounted for 32.7%, and inclusions smaller than 5 μm accounted for 96.2%. The particle size distribution was fitted with Gaussian and Boltzmann curves. In MS54 steel, the average and median values of inclusion size were (1.64±0.06) μm and 1.36 μm, respectively, while in MS103 steel, the average and median values of inclusion size were (0.73±0.03) μm and 1.01 μm, respectively. In MS54 steel, 20.6% of inclusions had an aspect ratio of 1-2, and 63.6% of inclusions had an aspect ratio below 5. In MS103 steel, 50.3% of inclusions had an aspect ratio of 1-2, and 76.3% of inclusions had an aspect ratio below 5. The research results provide a scientific basis for elucidating the abnormal grain growth behavior during annealing of Mn-Cr high-quality gear steels.