Three Dimensional Methodology to Characterize Large Dendritic Equiaxed Grains in Industrial Steel Ingots

The primary phase grain size is a key parameter to understand the formation of the macrosegregation pattern in large steel ingots. Most of the characterization techniques use two-dimensional measurements. In this paper, a characterization method has been developed for equiaxed dendritic grains in industrial steel castings. A total of 383 contours were drawn two-dimensionally on twelve 6.6 cm(2) slices. A three-dimensional reconstruction method is performed to obtain 171 three-dimensional grains. Data regarding the size, shape and orientation of equiaxed grains is presented and thereby shows that equiaxed grains are centimeter-scale complex objects. They appear to be a poly-dispersed collection of non-isotropic objects possessing preferential orientations. In addition, the volumetric grain number density is 2.2 x 10(7) grains/m(3), which compares to the 0.5 x 10(7) grains/m(3) that can be obtained with estimation from 2D measurements. The 2.2 x 10(7) grains/m(3) value is ten-times smaller than that previously used in the literature to simulate the macrosegregation profile in the same 6.2 ton ingot.