title = "Ladle Metallurgy and Melt Treatment"

content = """
Ladle metallurgy encompasses the refining, treatment, and adjustment of molten metal after it is
tapped from the primary melting furnace and before it is poured into molds. These post-furnace
treatments allow precise control of chemistry, temperature, inclusion content, and microstructure
modifiers that cannot be fully achieved in the primary furnace environment.

Ladle Design and Preheating:
Transfer ladles at Ridgecrest are steel shells lined with refractory brickwork or castable refractory.
Before use, ladles must be preheated to at least 900–1100°C using the ladle preheater station to:
(a) eliminate moisture from the refractory that would cause explosive steam generation upon contact
with molten metal, and (b) minimize the temperature drop (ladle chill) when hot metal is poured in.
A cold ladle can reduce melt temperature by 50–100°C, compromising pourability.

Alloying in the Ladle:
Final alloy trim additions (manganese, silicon, chromium, and others) are added to the ladle during
or after tapping to achieve the target chemical composition. Ladle additions are preheated where
possible to avoid excessive cooling and to ensure rapid dissolution.

Deoxidation:
Carbon and alloy steels are deoxidized in the ladle by adding aluminum, silicon, or ferromanganese
to reduce dissolved oxygen in the melt. Uncontrolled oxygen leads to oxide inclusions and blow holes
in the casting. Aluminum-killed steels have aluminum added at levels sufficient to fully react all
dissolved oxygen; the resulting aluminum oxide inclusions must then be floated out by slag.

Inoculation of Cast Iron:
For ductile iron, magnesium treatment (using a ferrosilicon-magnesium master alloy) is performed in
the ladle by the wire injection method or by sandwich ladle treatment. Magnesium converts graphite
morphology from flake (gray iron) to spheroidal nodules (ductile iron), dramatically improving
toughness and ductility. Post-magnesium treatment, a late inoculant (ferrosilicon with cerium or
barium additions) is added to maximize nodule count, which directly influences mechanical properties.

Argon Stirring:
Porous plugs or lances in the ladle bottom allow argon injection into the melt. The rising argon
bubbles stir the metal, homogenize temperature and composition, float oxide and slag inclusions to
the surface for removal, and assist in degassing. Argon stirring is used for steel heats destined
for pressure-retaining or aerospace castings.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
