Viscosity and Viscosity Estimate Model of Fluoride-Free and Titanium-Bearing Mold Fluxes

The relationship between the binary basicity (CaO/SiO(2)), TiO(2), Na(2)O, Li(2)O, MgO, MnO, B(2)O(3) and viscosity for fluoride-free and titanium-bearing mold fluxes were systematically researched. The rotating cylinder method was employed in the experiment to measure the viscosity of the slag. The results indicate that Li(2)O, B(2)O(3) and Na(2)O play major roles in decreasing viscosity, especially Li(2)O, which is the most effective flux, while MgO and MnO exert little influence on viscosity. Meanwhile, it can be concluded that with increasing TiO(2) content, the viscosity of fluoride-free and titanium-bearing mold fluxes increases at first but then falls when the amount of TiO(2) is greater than 6.0%. Based on large amounts of experimental statistics of the viscosity of fluoride-free and titanium-bearing mold fluxes, an available model in literature for predicting the mold-slag viscosity was modified. This modified model can be used to predict the viscosity of fluoride-free and titanium-bearing mold fluxes. In fact, the predicted values approximate the observed values with a +/-10.6% average deviation. Compared with the classical models, the average deviation is higher and it was found that the modified model can be used to estimate the viscosity of fluoride-free and titanium-bearing mold fluxes.