Development of X-ray Imaging for Observing Solidification of Carbon Steels

Time-resolved X-ray imaging of dendritic solidification for pure Fe and carbon steels with sufficient spatial and time resolutions has been developed for the first time by overcoming essential problems in low contrast between solid and liquid phases and in high melting temperatures. Static observation showed that the solid/liquid interface in pure Fe specimen was determined by the absorption contrast at photon energy ranging from 16 to 30 keV. In addition, the phase contrast was also observed in the vicinity of the interface. Dynamic observation showed that cellular growth in pure Fe specimen was observed at a growth velocity up to 400 μm/s. Feasibility observation was also performed for two different carbon steels (0.0025 mass% C and 0.45 mass% C). Growing dendrites were observed in-situ at a growth velocity up to 500 μm/s. This study proves that the developed imaging enabled to observe solidification phenomena in-situ for various kinds of steels.