Cleanliness improvement and microstructure refinement of H13 die steel by laboratory magnetic-controlled electroslag remelting

The current work investigated the impact of transverse static magnetic field (TSMF) with varied magnetic flux density (MFD) on cleanliness and microstructure of laboratory scale electroslag remelted H13 die steel. The inclusion morphology and microstructure evolution of electroslag remelted ingots were examined utilizing scanning electron and optical microscopes, respectively. The number and size of inclusions in ingots were detected using the FEI Aspex Explorer. The results demonstrated that the number/size of inclusions in H13 electroslag remelted ingots were decreased as the MFD of applied TSMF increased. This resulted from the application of the TSMF, which produced the thinner liquid melting film (LMF), smaller droplets, and shallower metal molten pool, strengthening the kinetic conditions for inclusion migration to the slag-metal interface and the removal process. When the MFD of the applied TSMF was higher (95 mT and 140 mT), the LMF became thinner, the droplets became smaller, and the metal pool became shallower were more visible. Moreover, the metal pool became shallower and the local solidification time became shorter after applying TSMF with larger MFD, resulting in finer dendritic structure and carbides.