Nuclear technique application for steel purity investigation in the aspect of the quantity of non-metalic inclusions and their sources

The paper presents the isotopic methods of research on the origin of exogenous inclusions in steel, taking into account such factors as: selection of tracers, labelling of investigated materials, sampling for analysis, separation of tracers and performing of measurements. The specificity of research on the origin of exogenous inclusions using non-radioactive tracers has been discussed. The paper presents the method of determining oxide endogenous inclusions which are formed during the process of steel deoxidation. The principles of the selection of labelled atoms and problems connected with the isolation of oxide inclusions have been discussed. Some problems of determining the non-radioactive tracers in separated oxide inclusions by means of activation have also been presented. The paper gives examples of applying the methods in research on the origin of exogenous inclusions in bearing steel, rail steel, etc., and the determination of oxide inclusions formed in the process of steel deoxidation by means of aluminium and silicon. The results of the research on the development of isotopic methods used for the determination of the origin of non-metallic inclusions in steel have been summarized and the possibilities and scope of applying those methods for the solution of practical problems have been presented. (author)