Rheological Characteristics of Fe–C–Cr(Ni) Alloys

The principal objective of this project was to investigate the rheological properties of Fe–C–Cr and Fe–C–Ni-based low-alloy steels using an Anton Paar high-temperature rotational viscometer up to 1550 °C. The emphasis was placed on determining the liquidus temperatures and evaluating the flow and viscosity curves and the temperature dependence of dynamic viscosity. All were studied depending on the change in the content of chromium (0.010–4.863 wt%), nickel (0.001–4.495 wt%), and carbon (0.043–1.563 wt%). It was shown that the dynamic viscosity decreases with increasing nickel content and increases with increasing carbon and chromium content. The experimental data of the flow curves were fitted using the Herschel–Bulkley model with a good agreement between the measured and calculated values. Characterization of the internal structure was performed by SEM and EDX analyses, confirming non-significant changes in the microstructure of the original and remelted samples. The phase composition of the selected samples was also determined using JMatPro 12.0 simulation software (Sente Software Ltd., Guildford, UK).