Effect of Oxygen on Growth Mechanism of SiO2 Inclusions in Non-Agitated Melts

This study investigates the growth and evolution of SiO2-based inclusions in Si-killed steel under stagnant conditions and varying oxygen levels. Deoxidation experiments were conducted in a high-temperature furnace using commercial FeSi, with systematic variations in holding time and total oxygen content. Automated SEM–EDS analysis was employed to quantify inclusion size, number density, and chemical composition. Under stagnant conditions, SiO2 inclusions were observed to grow and coarsen in the absence of melt agitation, following a t1/3 scaling law. In high-oxygen melts, rapid inclusion growth was dominated by Stokes collision mechanisms, resulting in the formation of inclusions in the size range of 1–5 μm, which were subsequently removed by flotation. In contrast, low-oxygen melts exhibited slower growth kinetics governed primarily by Brownian motion and Ostwald ripening, producing smaller inclusions with characteristic sizes of 1–2 μm. These results demonstrate that the initial oxygen content plays a decisive role in controlling the dominant growth mechanisms and the extent of inclusion coarsening in non-agitated steel.