Study of heterogeneities in steels and determination of soluble and total aluminium and titanium concentration by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A methodology for bulk analysis of Al and Ti and for determination of soluble and total Al and Ti concentration in steel samples by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was developed. The spatial distribution (both at surface and within the sample) of the insoluble fraction of Al and Ti was also qualitatively estimated. Certified reference materials (CRMs) SS-451 to 460 (carbon steel) and 064-1 (Nb/Ti interstitial free steel), from BAS, and JK 2D (carbon steel) and JK 37 (highly alloyed steel), from SIMR, were studied. It was demonstrated that the insoluble fraction of Al and Ti is heterogeneously distributed. A series of nine glass samples (fused beads) with fixed Fe content and different Al and Ti contents was prepared by melting appropriate amounts of Fe2O3, Al2O3 and TiO2 with a lithium tetraborate–sodium carbonate mixture. Quantitative determinations were performed by using calibration graphs obtained from the synthetic fused beads, with 57Fe as internal standard; line scan laser sampling mode was used, focusing the laser beam at the sample surface. The optimized laser operating parameters were: laser pulse energy of 1.5 mJ, pulse repetition rate of 5 Hz, scanning speed of 5 μm s−1 and preablation time of 20 s. The concentrations obtained for bulk analysis of CRM samples corresponded with the certified values within the experimental uncertainty. An acceptable concordance between certified and found values was attained for the determination of soluble and total Al and Ti in CRM 064-1 sample.