The Nitrogen Absorption of Arc-Melted Iron and Stainless Steel

Effects of melting conditions and atmospheres on the nitrogen absorption of tungsten arc-melted iron and stainless steel were studied. With the increase of the arc current, the nitrogen content of the melted stainless steel decreases, while that of the melted iron is nearly constant. In-both of the two melted metals, the nitrogen content depends hardly on the specimen weight and the gas flow rate. In each of them, the nitrogen content increases with the melting time and then reaches the saturated value which increases with the nitrogen partial pressure of atmosphere. The nitrogen absorption of the arc-melted metal was discussed with equilibrium data and was compared with the gas tungsten arc weld metal.