March 3, 2026Open Access

A Numerical Simulation on the Melting Behavior of Ferrochrome Alloy in Molten Steel

Key Points

Ferrochrome alloy's melting behavior shows that immersion time affects the solidified layer thickness, initially increasing then decreasing.
When bath temperature and carbon content rise, the melting rate accelerates from 0.49 × 10−4 m/s to 1.22 × 10−4 m/s, shortening complete melting time.
Numerical simulation with ANSYS Fluent analyzes multiple factors like bath temperature and chromium content to understand the melting process.
Increasing bath chromium content raises the solidified layer's melting point and slows the alloy's melting rate, leading to longer remelting times.

Abstract

Ferrochrome alloy is a crucial additive in steelmaking, significantly enhancing the strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance of steel; investigating the melting behavior of ferrochrome alloy could provide a theoretical foundation for producing stainless steel with improved properties. To gain insight into the melting behavior and mechanism of ferrochrome alloy in molten steel, this paper employed a numerical simulation with ANSYS Fluent software to investigate the effects of bath temperature, bath chromium content, bath carbon content, alloy chromium content, alloy carbon content, alloy size, and alloy preheating temperature on the melting behavior of ferrochromium alloy. The results showed that when the ferrochrome alloy is immersed into the molten bath, a solidified layer formed on the surface of the alloy, and as immersion time increased, the thickness of the solidified layer initially increased and then decreased; subsequent to the complete melting of the solidified layer, the alloy body began to melt. The center temperature of the alloy remained the lowest throughout the melting process and raised with increasing immersion time. Additionally, as the bath temperature and bath carbon content increased, the formation time of the solidified layer on the surface of the alloy shortened, its maximum thickness decreased, the alloy’s melting rate accelerated from 0.49 × 10−4 m/s to 1.22 × 10−4 m/s, and the complete melting time decreased from 134.7 s to 41 s. Conversely, increasing the bath chromium content raised the melting point of the solidified layer, prolonged the time required for remelting, slowed the alloy’s melting rate from 2.47 × 10−4 m/s to 0.91 × 10−4 m/s, and increased the complete melting time from 67.6 s to 75.2 s. As the alloy carbon content and preheating temperature increased, the alloy chromium content and size decreased, the formation time of the solidified layer shortened, its maximum thickness initially increased and then decreased, the melting rate of the alloy accelerated from 0.47 × 10−4 m/s to 1.97 × 10−4 m/s, and the complete melting time reduced from 165.8 s to 18.1 s.

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