STUDY OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE POROUS OXIDE LAYER

: Steel production and processing are connected with high temperatures. Due to a reaction between hot surface of the steel and oxygen contained in surrounding atmosphere, oxides are formed on the surface of the steel. Created layer of oxides is called scales and has influence on cooling and quality of steel. Thickness and structure of scale layer are influenced by chemical composition of the steel, temperature and atmosphere during oxidation. Scale layer can be considerably porous which has a significant influence on thermal conductivity of this layer, because air pores have much lower thermal conductivity compared to scales. Steel samples were prepared and porosity of scale layer was studied. Further, the average thermal conductivity of porous scale layer was determined for different regimes of oxidation by FEM modelling. It was found that the average thermal conductivity of porous scale layer is influenced not only by porosity of scale layer, but also by distribution of air pores, which can has a significant effect.