US1029637A - Steel metal. - Google Patents

Description

AUGUSTE J. ROSSI, F NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE TITANIUM ALLOY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Loeaeet.

Specification of Letters Patent.

STEEL METAL.

Patented June 18, 1912.

No Drawing. Original application filed October 10, 1911, Serial No. 653,784. Divided and this application filed January 4, 1912. Serial No. 669,433.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, AUGUsTE J. RossI, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Steel Metals, of which the following is a specification, this being a divisional application of my prior application for United States Letters Patent filed October 10, 1911, Serial No. 653,784.

My present invention relates to products derivable from the methods for producing steel, disclosed in my said priorapplication,

these being more particularly steels of approved tensile strength, without content of hitherto practised additions of manganese and silicon.

Hitherto in thema-nufacture of steel byeither the Bessemer, or open hearth, or crucible methods, it has been deemed indispensable toadd to the moltenmetal man ganese and, silicon for purposes hereinafter mentioned, the fact being that final steel products containing less than certain percentages of manganese, say from 0.4% to 1% or even somewhat more, are regarded as unfit for certain purposes, as for instance rails. This insistence on manganese is based on increase of ductility and tensile strength believed to beimparted by certain proportions of that metal. On the other hand, as

is now well understood, excess of manganese produces the contrary .effect, and, if excessive, 'prohibitory brittleness. Proper proportioning of manganese therefore presents an important, and often difficult," problem in actual industrial operations; the effect of manganese on oxid of iron present, and con sequently theamount of mangaiiese retained in the final product, varying unaccountably with baths of apparently the same composition-as regards constituentsiother than said oxid. As is well known, manganese is almost invariably added to the metal in the forms of spiegel-eisen, or term-manganese,

according to the proportion of manganese desired in the final steel product. Advantageiis taken of this association of iron with the manganese to utilize the alloy, or compound, as a recarburizing agent on account of its carbon constituent. Thus in the treatment by manganese of so-called Bessemer steel, the ferro-manganese, or spiegel-eisen,

as the case may be, is usually introduced into the metal in the converter near the end of the blow in such proportions as to supply deficiencies of carbon, and assure in the final product the desired percentage of manganeses after allowing for losses dud to its reactions with the oxide On the other hand, the ferro-manganese or spiegel-eisen is sometimes added to the metal in the teemproduction of steel by the open hearth, basic or acid, processes the manganese is likewise, in the forms OfspiegeI-eisen, or ferro-manganese, added usually to the prepared, or properly carburized, metal in the furnace. In the manufacture of crucible steel the manganese is similarly added to the metal before the same is poured from the cruing to present practice the carbon constituent of the ,spiegel-eisen or ferro-manganese is, or not, depended upon for recarburization according to convenience, or method, employed; but that, in all instances, incorporation of manganese as aforesaid is practised as essential and for the purposes aforesaid. As to silicon, this element is usually introduced in the form of ferro-silicon and ditions of ferro-manganese or spiegel-eisen, the proportions of the silicon being such about 0.06% to 0.2% of that element. The

thus added is, in part, like that of manganese, reduction of the oxids of iron, and

convert carbon present from the combined into the graphitic state.

manufactured as aforesaid by aid of additions of manganese and silicon may be 1mportioned to incorporate titanium suflicient to combine with all undesired elements and compounds not previously removed by said manganese or silicon, for which invention Letters Patent of the United States, No.

1,003,805 were granted to me on September 19, 1911. I have also,.howevr, discovered that the aforesaid additions of manganese and silicon, including spiegel-elsen, ferromanganese and "ferro-silicon, may, with ing ladle instead of the converter. In the cible. It will thus be observed that accordsubstantially similarly to the aforesaid ad- 1 effect at present attributed to the silicon I have heretofore discovered that steel titanium in the form of ferro-titanium pro-.

as to retain in the final steel product from likewise, it hasbeen claimed, a tendency to proved by also'adding thereto, when melted,

titanium be added, this resulting in production of a novelhigh grade steel, more economicall and readilyproduced than former steels corresponding grade contalning manganese. and silicon.

My present invention may be practised as follows, vi'z :The iron ore employed is first hearth accelerated a mediate ladle, the alloy of iron further treatment in thus recarburized so as ent. I then pause in smelted as usual. The resulting iron while molten is next purified to an extent by the usual procedures, moved therefrom many undesired elements and compounds therein contained as by aid of the 'air blast in the converter of-the Bessemer process, or by aid of the oxidizing action of the producer gases of the open by additions of ore or by aid of well known in the metal prior to its the crucible. Each of these heretofore long practised methods of scrap, or both, or reactions produced purification result, as is well known, in removing from the metal not only undesired elements and compounds but also, incidentally, substantially all of the manganese, silicon, and more or less, of the carbon therein contained. My next step is, as usual, by any of the well known methods now practised, except by additions of compounds nese, to recarburize the metal purified as aforesaid, i. 6. add thereto and incorporate therein while molten carbon suflicient to raise the total carbon content to the desired percentage. Such recarburization may be effected in any of the several ways familiar to those skilled in the art, such, for instance,

as by additions of pig iron sufliciently high in graphitic carbon content to supply the per cent. of carbon desired in the. final product, or, even, by additions of carbon itself, etc. The very generally, if not universally, prevailing resort to additions of ferro-manganese or spiegel-eisen for recarburizing the prepared metal particularly that produced in the Bessemer converter is thusavoided by my process.

When the steel is produced by the aid of the Bessemer or pneumatic burize either in the. converter or in the intermediate ladle, by any of the well known recarburizing methods other than by ferromanganese or spiegel-eisen. To the metal to contain the .required percentage of carbon I add, either in the converter, or preferably in the interand titanium in quantity sufficient to incorporate enough titanium to satisfy the affinities therefor of all undesired elements and compounds presthe operation a time determined to be suflicient to insure all the reactions possible with the titanium, after which the metal may be poured and cast that is to say there is re-' or usually most,

or alloys containing manga-e process, I recarinto ingots as usual. When the ferro-titanium is introduced otherwise than in theconverter, I prefer to add it to the metal while pouring.

In cases in which the by the open hearth, basic or acid, processes the ferro-titanium should be added on pouring the metal into the intermediate ladle and there likewise allowed to rest a time sufficient to insure all the reactions attributable to the titanium.

In cases in which the steel is produced by the crucible process so called, the ferro-titanium should likewise be added to the metal as it is poured from the crucible into the intermediate ladle and there also allowed to rest a similar time as aforesaid.

In all the foregoing instances cited of the application of my process, whether to Bessemer, open hearth or crucible steel, it will be observed that my novel steel product is produced entirely without the aid of anyof the hit erto practiced additionso-f manganese or s'licon in any form;

Notwithstanding the absence in my final resulting steel product of added manganese and added silicon, it will be found that the tensile strength according to content of carbon will be fully as great as, and in some instances has proved greater than, that characterizing steel produced by the previous methods employing additions of manganese and silicon. My resulting steel productis therefore distinguishable from those preceding it. in the particulars that it will be found by chemical analysis tocontain some titanium, if only traces, also approximately say not to exceed 0.2% or usually less, being the remainder, after reactions, of the manganese incidentally contained in the-materialsemployed. .My said final product may also be distinguished as containing approximately say a few hundredths of 1%, or less,.of silicon, also the remainder, after reactions, of the silicon incidentally contributed by the materials employed, and my said final product is also further distinguishable" in that, notwithstanding it may contain only a moderate per cent. of carbon, say for example not to exceed 0.5% its tensile strength is as great, or greater, than though it had contained the heretofore usual percentages of manganese and silicon required for instance in steel used for rails. My resulting product is thus broadly distinguishable from what has preceded it in the aforesaid particulars of containing some titanium, including traces thereof, much less manganese, much less silicon, if any more than traces, and less carbon than previous steels of substantially the same or even less tensile strength. r

I am aware that it has hitherto been suggested that beneficial results would follow this being.

of manganese, this,

v .to produce my present invention, the proportion of titanium thereby added being altogether too small, 71. e. from 1 1,5 of 1% to 5 of 1% of titanium, which is less than sufficient, in anycase, to combine with andeliminate the undesired elements and compounds present even' in the steel referred to .which does not appear'tohave been eX-- empted from the aforesaid, hitherto deemed indispensable, additions of manganese and silicon for purification or other purposes,

. my invention being distinguishable from such procedure in that, among other difierences, it dispenses with additions of aluminum, manganese and silicon, and to that end employs titanium in quantity suflicient to make up for their absence and impart to the resulting product, with enhanced economy and simplicity .of operation, more desirable characteristics.

I amalso aware that it has. been previously suggested that titanium be added to steel in such large percentages as to justify designation of the resulting product as an alloyed l or titanium, steel, 2'. e. a steel which owes its distinguishing properties chiefly to the presence of a thereto added and therein retained element other than carbon, such as titanium. My present invention is distinguishable from suchproducts in that the steels referred to do not appear to have been exempted from the aforesaid hitherto deemed indispensable addit-ions of manganese and silicon, and the amount of titanium added to justify designation of the product as a titanium steel is much greater than that employed by my Y.

method, and retained, ifany, in its resulting steels.

I am also aware that it has been suggested to add to ,steel, containing from 0.15% to 1% carbon, and in alloy therewith from 1 to 10% of nickel, from 0.50% to 10% of titanium and from 0.15% to 1% of manganese, or, also, from 0.15% to 5% of chromium for'the purpose of attaining an alleged improved alloyed steel metal, but this method of treatment as well as its resulting 'product are also distinguishable from mine notonly in its intentional and asserted indispensable addition of manganese, but also more particularly in the dependence of said-method on additions of the other metals other than titanium mentioned and their presence in the resulting product; my method, on the contrary, placing no dependence on such additions, and

my product being characterized as substantially devoid of metals other than steel, titanium, and the minute percentages of manganese and silicon above referred to as unavoidably left over from the content thereof in the raw material operation.

'What I claim. as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, V1Z1 I 1. As a new article of manufacture, steel containing, by chemical analysis, titanium in amount not to exceed two per cent., manganese in amount not to exceed 0.2 per cent. and characterized 'as substantially devoid of other metals.

2. As a new'article of manufacture, steel containing, by chemical analysis, silicon in amount not toexceed 0.02 per cent, also titanium in amount not to exceed'two per cent. and manganese in amount not to exceed 0.2, per cent. and characterized as substantially devoid of other metals.

. AUGUSTE J. ROSSI. Witnesses: Y WALTER D. EDMoNDs,

GEORGE G. MEASURES.

prior to my