ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some alternatives to isolation by electrolysis, and describes some of the chemically-oriented approaches to measurement. In thermal evolution analysis a special flux or accelerator might be added, or furnace power might be increased to decompose analyte-bearing refractory inclusions or phases. The science of chemically extracting inclusions and phases from steels and other metals for chemical analysis and other studies is a largely unrecognized discipline, which, nevertheless, has a long history. Oxides are the most studied nonmetallic inclusions. Endogenous oxides form during the deoxidation and solidification of most metals. Nitrides play an important role in the physical properties of many metals, including steel. Most other carbides that have been isolated from steel are stable in the room temperature metal lattice, although some are pyrophoric when isolated and exposed to air. "Stringer" defects in rolled steel are due to sulfides and can be prevented by the use of alloy inoculants to control sulfide morphology.
