Abstract:
The microstructural characteristics of austenite in Ti microalloyed steel during continuous casting significantly influence the thermoplasticity, thereby affecting the quality of the slab. In this work, a prediction model for two-stage austenite growth under varying cooling rates was established by incorporating the effect of second-phase pinning and high-temperature ferrite–austenite phase transformation and growth theory. The results indicate that with 0.02wt% Ti, the high-temperature ferrite growth exhibits typical parabolic growth characteristics. When the Ti content increases to 0.04wt%, the high-temperature ferrite grain boundary migration rate significantly slows during the initial solidification stage. The predicted austenite grain sizes for 0.02wt% Ti microalloyed steel at the center, quarter, and surface of the slab are 5592, 3529, and 1524 μm, respectively. For 0.04wt% Ti microalloyed steel, the austenite grain sizes are 4074, 2942, and 1179 μm at the same positions. The average error is within 5%. As the Ti content increases from 0.02wt% to 0.04wt%, the austenite grain refinement at the center is most significant, with an average grain size reduction of 27.14%.