Effect of TiO2 on the viscosity and structure of low-fluoride slag used for electroslag remelting of Ti-containing steels

The viscosity of CaF2–CaO–Al2O3–MgO–(TiO2) slag was measured using a rotating crucible viscometer. Raman spectroscopy analysis was performed to correlate the viscosity to slag structure. The viscosity of the slag was found to decrease with increasing TiO2 con-tent in the slag from 0 to 9.73wt%. The activation energy decreased from 95.16 kJ/mol to 79.40 kJ/mol with increasing TiO2 content in the slag. The introduction of TiO2 into the slag played a destructive role in Al–O–Al structural units and Q4 units by forming simpler structural units of Q2 and426TiO- chain. The amount of Al–O–Al significantly decreased with increasing TiO2 content. The relative fraction of4Q units in the AlO4]5?-tetrahedral units shows a decreasing trend, whereas the relative fraction of2Q units and426TiO- chain increases with increasing TiO2 content accordingly. Consequently, the polymerization degree of the slag decreases with increasing TiO2 content. The varia-tion in slag structure is consistent with the change in measured viscosity.