Oxygen Content Control in the Electroslag Remelting Process: An Incremental Learning Strategy Based on Optimized Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network with Gradient Penalty Data Augmentation

Electroslag remelting (ESR) is essential for producing high-end special steel, but its complex process and numerous influencing factors make quality control challenging. This study addresses oxygen content control during ESR using a big data machine learning approach. An incremental learning strategy is proposed based on an optimized Wasserstein generative adversarial network with gradient penalty (WGAN-GP) for data enhancement, focusing on G20Cr2Ni4A bearing steel. The WGAN-GP model enhances time-series data and metadata, utilizing long short-term memory networks, fully connected networks, and attention mechanisms. The effectiveness of data enhancement is verified using a deep neural network classifier and statistical methods. Data is divided into historical and data streams, with an incremental learning strategy based on histogram gradient boosting regression trees to prevent catastrophic forgetting and improve efficiency through knowledge distillation and real-time hyperparameter adjustment. Results show that the data augmentation method significantly improves model generalization and accuracy in small sample metallurgy. The incremental learning strategy enhances prediction accuracy for oxygen content, contributing to better cleanliness quality of electroslag steel. This study offers a novel approach for addressing small sample challenges in metallurgical processes.