Application of laser-produced-plasmas to determination of carbon content in steel

This paper describes an analytical method to determine carbon content in solid and molten steel. It is based on the study of the emission spectrum from a Nd-YAG laser produced plasma. The light emitted from the plasma is focused to the entrance slit of a spectrometer and detected by an OMA III system. For every laser pulse an spectral range of 100 A are recorded. With the use of time-resolved spectroscopy a precision of 1.6% and a detection limit of 65 ppm of carbon content in steel have been obtained. These values are similar to those of other accurate conventional techniques but using optics fiber and laser excitation it is possible to made sample calibrations in hostile environments. Also, as the analysis are made in real time changes in sample composition can be measured without stopping production processes. (Author) 26 refs