Evaporation of Fe and Cr from Induction-stirred Austenitic Stainless Steel. Influence of the Inert Gas Pressure

摘要

In vacuum metallurgy, one of the purposes is the reduction (or at least the accurate prediction) of the evaporation losses. It is well known that the addition of an inert gas in a vacuum furnace increases the re- condensation of the volatile elements and then reduces the evaporation losses. We may define the pres- sure P_1/2 required to halve the evaporation rate. The objective of this study is a theoretical and experimental evaluation of P_1/2 in the case of an austenitic stainless steel, and the analysis of the parameters which influ- ence this value.