Cite this article as: |
Rongzhen Mo, Xubin Zhang, Ying Ren, Junjie Hu, and Lifeng Zhang, Influence of substituting B2O3 with Li2O on the viscosity, structure, and crystalline phase of the low-reactive mold flux, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.,(2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2621-x |
The effect of Li2O instead of B2O3 on the viscosity and the melting temperature of the low-reactive mold flux was investigated. The melt structure and precipitation of the crystalline phase were studied using the Raman spectrum and X-ray diffraction to better understand the evolution of viscosity. The viscosity of the mold flux with 2wt% Li2O and 6wt% B2O3 reached the minimum value of 0.07 Pa·s. The break temperature and melting temperature showed a similar trend with the viscosity. With the increase of Li2O content in the mold flux from 0wt% to 6wt%, the degree of polymerization of aluminate and aluminosilicate network structure increased due to the increasing Li+ released by Li2O. The addition of Li2O preferred to associate with Al3+ as a charge compensator. The precipitation of the LiAlO2 crystalline phase led to an increase in mold flux viscosity. Therefore, the content of Li2O should be controlled below 2wt% to avoid the precipitation of LiAlO2, which was harmful to the continuous casting of high-aluminum steels.