DIGITOOL

Material development and heat treatment processes are key factors for the success of the Swedish steel industry. Efficient and environmentally smart steel products from Sweden contribute to reduced material consumption, longer service life, less wear and tear, and improved energy efficiency.

There is a continuous industrial demand for more advanced heat treatment methods in the steel industry in order to improve production quality and material performance, and to reduce the use of expensive alloy materials and thus costs. Water impinging jet and water spray impinging have proven to be flexible techniques that can be applied in the industry for cooling of the steel components.

The research is based on both experimental and numerical investigations and is divided into five work packages that will be carried out jointly by researchers at the University of Gävle, Alleima, Ovako, and Ferritico. Steel from both companies will be produced, tested, and analyzed. In this way, increased knowledge will be co-produced by all project partners and new contact arenas for further co-production will emerge.

Background

Global steel production was 1,912 million tons in 2021, and the Swedish steel industry's share was almost 0.2% or 4.7 million tons. The Swedish steel industry is therefore a minor steel producer globally, but most Swedish steel companies are world leaders in various product segments. Almost 80% of Swedish steel products are exported to more than 140 countries. The export value of Swedish steel products amounted to approximately SEK 53 billion in 2020. Swedish steel companies with a high level of specialization have succeeded in developing special types of steel in selected market niches.

Alleima and Ovako's ambition is to bring superior products to the market. Carefully controlling the thermal treatment of duplex stainless steel bar products and ball bearing steel grades, both spatially and temporally, are key factors in optimizing product properties. Alleima and Ovako need to increase their knowledge of how to optimize the heating and cooling cycles for steel products in order to achieve improved properties. The proposed method for developing steel products requires new cooling technology, supported by laboratory tests in a well-controlled environment and backed up by modeling tools, field measurements, and competent personnel. Ferritico is developing an artificial intelligence-based simulation tool to predict CCT (Continuous Cooling Transformation) diagrams, which will improve the method used in the project as it provides more accurate CCT data predictions compared to empirical methods, and Ferritico can improve its tool based on the results produced.

Purpose

The project aims to develop tools for intelligent decision support in order to develop and produce steel products with excellent properties using newly developed cooling techniques. A powerful method for achieving the project's goal is to combine knowledge and tools from different disciplines, i.e., fluid mechanics, heat transfer, materials science, and artificial intelligence. Such an integrated approach has not been investigated previously.

Overall objectives

• Developing decision support tools for the improvement of steel properties based on artificial intelligence, materials science, and advanced cooling.
  
• Experimentally explore the underlying heat transfer mechanisms and the spatial and temporal behavior of the proposed cooling technique for heat treatment of bearing steel and duplex stainless steel bar products.
• Enabling the optimization of steel bearing and bar product properties by controlling phase transformation for superior properties and optimal performance of steel products using the new cooling technology.
• Make data and tools available for reproduction and renewal of science.
• Disseminate results and conclusions to relevant stakeholders.