Review of Mold Fluxes for Continuous Casting of High-Alloy (Al, Mn, Ti) Steels

During continuous casting of high-alloy (Al, Mn, Ti) steels, the operational issues and quality problems caused by interfacial reaction or peritectic features need to be solved by applying suitable mold fluxes. Intensive efforts have been made to optimize properties, and hereby, several types of mold fluxes, including mold fluxes with high basicity and high glassy property (dual-high mold fluxes), mold fluxes with strong oxidizing components to protect SiO2 from reduction, mold fluxes with high SiO2 content to decrease the viscosity and basicity, mold fluxes with low SiO2 content for the purpose of attenuated reactivity, and molten mold fluxes to increase consumption, have been developed. Significant efforts have been made to study the theoretical basis and practical application of these mold fluxes. To summarize, the most potential solution of mold fluxes for high-alloy (Al, Mn, Ti) steel continuous casting is to further optimize the nonreactive mold fluxes systematically to achieve a coordinated control of lubrication and heat transfer.