Explore on the Mechanism of Action between Al2O3–SiO2 Refractory Materials and Rare Earth High Carbon Heavy Rail Steel

The submerged entry nozzle (SEN) clogging interface reaction layer has long been a major problem plaguing the production of rare earth-containing steels. To explore the relationship between SEN refractory and interface interactions, Al2O3–SiO2 refractory and Al2O3–SiO2 SiO2 coating refractory were added to rare earth high-carbon heavy rail steels (RE-HCHRS) under laboratory conditions. The results show that from the epoxy resin side to the refractory side, the contour of the refractory interface reaction layer can be divided into three main reaction layers: large particle non-porous layer, large particle large-porous layer and small particle small-porous layer, and the aluminum-silicon refractory with protective coating will delay the adhesion deposition and erosion of the interface reaction with RE-HCHRS molten steel particles. Through the calculation of the spherical model, it is found that the adhesion force is proportional to the size of the refractory particles and inclusions, and the same result is also the same as the surface tension, and controlling the inclusions at a smaller size has a certain effect on alleviating the erosion of refractory materials. Combined with the test results and model calculation, the erosion mechanism of aluminum-silicon refractory materials is discussed, and measures to solve the SEN clogging are proposed.