Abstract: Soft reduction is an effective method to improve the carbon segregation of high carbon steel. In this paper, the existing straightening rollers were used to carry out the soft reduction. In order to study the feasibility of soft reduction for the billet continuous casting, the pressing force of straightening machine was analyzed by mechanical calculation, and the billet solidification heat transfer model was established to analyze the solid fraction distribution under different conditions. Meanwhile, the straightening rollers were modified from concave to flat. Through the solidification calculation and the experiments, the research developed the optimal soft reduction process parameters that is suitable for the current billet high carbon steel. The results show that the internal quality of the billet has been significantly improved, and the carbon segregation index dropped below 1.1.

Key words: billet, high carbon steel, segregation, soft reduction