The reason for the wide use of steel in such applications is its low cost and availability on the one side, and its high strength and good weldability on the other. Constant development of steels guarantees the continuing popularity of the material. SINTEF has a wide experience in the field of steel metallurgy. Our main areas of competence are:

• Grain size control in steels with the help of inclusions
• Characterisation and visualisation of material behaviour in an iron blast furnace
• Modelling of residual stresses after welding

Example of the effect of a grain refiner on the microstructure of cast AISI 329 stainless steel.

Research examples for this material

• Microstructure control of steels through dispersoid metallurgy
• Characterisation of the micro- and macro level of reduction in iron ore pellets excavated from LKAB’s experimental blast furnace in Luleå, Sweden
• Development of constitutive equations tailored for residual stress prediction that capture the most relevant micro-structural effects in high strength steels

SINTEF’s Contact person: Dr. Casper van der Eijk