The purity of a steel is an important factor influencing the quality of the final products. Therefore, it is important to optimize the existing and develop new steelmaking technologies that affect the resulting purity. Electro slag remelting is a technology of tertiary metallurgy, which can advantageously be used to fabricate high quality steels. The study presents selected theoretical aspects of oxide systems and their specific influences on effectiveness of the electro slag remelting technology. The aim of this work was to experimentally analyze the purity of a tool steel fabricated by electro slag remelting using two different oxide systems (fused slags). The core of the study is the determination of the overall presence of elements in the steels, a thorough investigation of the presence of (not only) oxide-based inclusions within the investigated tool steel, and a detailed analysis of their chemical composition, including the size of these non-metallic inclusions, using energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) on the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Last but not least, the determination of the modification of the occurring non-metallic inclusions and verification of the experimentally acquired results as well as the calculation of the liquid and solid temperature and the calculation of the viscosity of the slags using the FactSage calculation software was performed. The results showed that the used slag influenced especially the occurrence of Mg and Al-based oxide inclusions. The CaS-type inclusions were present within all of the examined samples. The slag type influenced not only the typical morphology and size of the inclusions (especially of the CaS type), but also the tendency of the steel to exhibit localized corrosion when exposed to the ambient environment. This research can contribute to a better understanding of the effect of oxidation systems on the resulting purity and properties of ESR steels, thereby advancing the production of tool steels with higher quality and performance requirements.

• Keywords
• chemical composition, electro slag remelting, non-metallic inclusion, slag, thermodynamics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Rotary swaging is an industrially applicable intensive plastic deformation method. Due to its versatility, it is popular, especially in the automotive industry. Similar to the well-known methods of severe plastic deformation (SPD), rotary swaging imparts high shear strain into the swaged materials and thus introduces grain refinement down to a very fine, even ultra-fine, level. However, contrary to SPD methods, one of the primary characteristics of which is that they retain the shapes and dimensions of the processed sample, rotary swaging enables the imparting of required shapes and dimensions of workpieces (besides introducing structure refinement and the consequent enhancement of properties and performance). Therefore, under optimized conditions, swaging can be used to process workpieces of virtually any metallic material with theoretically any required dimensions. The main aim of this review is to present the principle of the rotary swaging method and its undeniable advantages. The focus is primarily on assessing its pros and cons by evaluating the imparted microstructures.

• Keywords
• grain size, intensive plastic deformation, microstructure, rotary swaging,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

The research and development of modern metallic materials imparts not only the introduction of innovative alloys and compounds, but also the increasing lifetime of existing materials via optimized deformation processing. Among the essential features of progressive metallic materials used for modern applications are enhanced mechanical properties, but also other high-level functional characteristics, such as thermal-physical parameters, corrosion rate, and electric resistance. The properties of materials and alloys ensue from their structures, which can primarily be affected by the preparation/production process. The Special Issue "Mechanical Properties in Progressive Mechanically Processed Metallic Materials" was established to present recent developments and innovations particularly in the engineering field. The Special Issue comprises papers dealing with modern materials, such as metallic composites and pseudoalloys, as well as developments in various processing technologies.

• Keywords
• functional properties, mechanical processing, mechanical properties, metallic systems, structural phenomena,
• Publication type
• Editorial MeSH