Analysis of the development of railway track facilities revealed a  tendency to constantly improve quality requirements for rail transfers, which have the most wear in the upper part of the rail way. The major causes of quality inconsistency of switch point transfers to requirements of the standards are poor geometry and spread the values of residual stresses in the initial blanks – switch point rails. Asymmetrical profile of switch point rails greatly complicates their manufacturing technology, especially at use of universal rolling mill stands for their rolling. This paper describes theoretical and technological aspects of the development of OR65 switch point rails production at the new universal rolling mill of JSC “EVRAZ ZSMK”. Imperfection of contract calibration of the supplier of rolling mill equipment, which determined the impossibility of its application for mass production of switch point rails, led to the need to develop new and improved rolling pattern. Distinctive features of the new method of stand, reduction switch point rails rolling are an intensified mode of breakdown in the first breakdown of the number of passes in the second breakdown stand and the use of split inclined rail caliber with diagonal connectors instead of closed split rail caliber. At the same time the possibility of intensifying the strain mode is preliminarily justified by calculations of rolling force conducted using a previously developed authors’ technique. The introduction of a new mode of rolling the OR65 rails allowed to increase the mill's productivity by 39.8  t/h and to reduce the rejection of finished rails by 0.5  % of rolling stock. The analysis of metal flow processes and of the formation of finishing profile of switch point rails while rolling in the universal stands has shown that the clearance of width of the rail profile base is due to the free broadening of the metal at the element deformation. As a result of this feature, the execution of the necessary width of the rail profile base depends on many technological parameters and cannot be predicted with a high degree of accuracy. The experience of industrial rolling of switch point rails on the rail mill of JSC  “EVRAZ ZSMK” has shown that the achievable accuracy of the elements dimensions of the rolling profiles is ±1.0  mm. At the same time, according to the current domestic regulatory documentation for the production of switch point rails of the highest and first grades, the maximum tolerances for the width of the short arm of the base are set within ±0.3 and ±0.5  mm, respectively. Thus, the fulfillment of this requirement is impossible.

Production of silicon in ore-thermal furnaces (OTF) by carbothermic reduction of quartzites is accompanied by large dust emission, containing significant amount of valuable silica (an average of 86  %). In this regard, works devoted to raw material base expansion due to return of technogenic wastes into technological process are of great significance. To be used in process of silicon smelting in OTF, the dust collected by gas treatment units, consisting of 120 microns particles with predominant fraction of +20 – 50 μm, has to pass through preliminary agglomeration (to prevent its possible fly from reaction zone with process gases). Since charge including agglomerated part must have sufficient strength during transportation and loading to OTF, liquid glass is suggested to be used as a binder with addition of aluminum-containing electrostatic precipitators containing resinous substances (polyaromatic hydrocarbons) as a hardening reagent for dust. Based on the results of tests for strength of the agglomerated charge samples, the following charge components ratio is recommended: 24  –  27  % of silicon production dust; 51  –  53  % of carbonaceous reductant (1:1 mixture of petroleum coke and charcoal); 4  –  5  % oversize of fine-grained silicon; 14  –  15  % of binder (liquid glass and dust of electrostatic precipitators of aluminum-magnesium production in 4:1 ratio) (by weight). With such a composition of charge, the drop resistance coefficient averaged 82.5  %. As a result of physical-chemical study of agglomerated compositions obtained by the proposed method, it was found that they have porous structure (45.5  %) which forms a well-developed active surface of material with an apparent density (1100  kg/cm3), which provides operation of OTF in a stable mode when using agglomerated charge of this composition. Experimental melting carried out in a HTF  17/10 type high-temperature furnace has resulted in a product containing more than 44  % (by weight) of silicon carbide as an obligatory intermediate in carbothermic process, that allows to recommend charge agglomerated by proposed procedure with selected component ratio for use as additives to the main (cobbed) charge in production of silicon by carbothermic method. 

The results of comparative studies of tribological and physical properties of Ti – C – Mo – S multicomponent composition antifriction coating deposited by combined magnetron-plasma method on 40Kh and 20Kh13 steel templates are presented. Coating on 40Kh and 20Kh13 steel templates is formed in a single batch, i.e. under the same conditions and with the same technological regimes by magnetron sputtering of cathodes made by SHS synthesis and assistance of high-density gas-discharged plasma formed by HCPS plasma source. The work shows technological methods used in coating. After the coating is formed, templates were subjected to friction tests on tribometer using “pin-on-disk” scheme, linear relative speed of counter-faces was 50  –  60  cm/s. The obtained results showed a significant difference in tribological characteristics of coating, depending on template material, wear resistance in the first place. A significant difference in service life of coating on templates produced of different materials was found by comparing low-alloy chromium (about 1  %) 40Kh steel (higher wear resistance) to high-chrome chromium (about 13  %) 20Kh13 steel. Results of optical microscopy and ESM of wear and tear tracks are presented, difference in nature and degree of wear of coating formed on templates made of 40Kh and 20Kh13 steels is revealed. Using electronic profilometer, specific wear of coating per 1000 rotations of disk was estimated based on average cross-section area of friction track: cross-section area of coating wear track of 20Kh13 steel template coating is four times larger than that of 40Kh steel template. A comprehensive analysis of physical and tribological study results suggests that observed difference is primarily due to different initial chemical-phase composition and differences in structure of substrate materials used in experiment that determine properties of alloyed surface layer and adhesion strength of coating and, ultimately, wear mechanism. 

In the present work, coatings of TiC – Mo, TiC – Ni, TiB2  – Mo, and TiB2  – Ni systems were applied to the surface of Hardox 450 steel by the method of electrospray coating. After that, the electron-beam treatment of the coatings was carried out. It was established that after electro-explosive spraying of the coatings of the systems under investigation, a number of morphological features of the relief are formed on the surface: deformed crystallized microglobules, incrustations, microcraters, microcracks, layers. After the electron-beam treatment of the coatings, microglobules, microcraters and microcracks disappear on their surfaces, a polycrystalline structure is formed, in the bulk of which the structure of cellular crystallization is observed. The roughness of the coatings after electron beam treatment is 1.1  –  1.2  μm. It  was also established that the thickness of the layers of electrically explosive coatings modified by an electron beam, depending on the surface energy density, is linear. Its maximum value is observed for the TiB2  – Mo system, the minimum – for the TiC – Ni system, which is explained by their thermophysical properties. In the coatings the following substructures are revealed: cellular, strip, fragmented, subgrain, and also grains with chaotically distributed dislocations and dislocations that form grids. Electron beam treatment of coatings leads to the formation of a composite filled structure throughout the entire section of the remelted layer, forming a more dispersed and homogeneous structure in it than in coatings without electron beam treatment. Dimensions of inclusions of titanium carbide or titanium diboride in molybdenum or nickel matrix are reduced by a factor of 2  –  4 compared with their dimensions immediately after electrospray deposition. Particles of the second phases are found in the volume of molybdenum or nickel grains and at the boundaries: titanium carbide or titanium diboride. They have a rounded shape and can be divided into two classes in size: 1. particles of initial powders with dimensions of 80  –  150  nm, not dissolved in the irradiation process; 2. particles released during crystallization of the melt with dimensions of 10  –  15  nm. The basis of the structure formation in electric explosive powder coatings is the dynamic rotation of the sputtered particles, which form a vortex structure both in the coating and in the upper layers of the substrate. Formed coatings have increased performance properties: nano- and microhardness, a modulus of elasticity of the first kind and wear resistance in conditions of dry sliding friction. 

The article presents the review of Russian and foreign researches on surface hardening of WC – Co hard alloys aiming at increasing their wear-resistance. There is a great reserve of increasing wear-resistance and operational durability of hard-alloy products in application of surface methods of hardening using different coatings and coating with basic structural components of up to 100  nanometers. The most widely spread coatings on WC – Co hard alloys are coatings made from TiC, TiN providing high energy lattice ties, high flowing temperature and hardness. Use of TiC, TiN as surface layers on hard-alloy tools results in reduction of friction coefficient in pair with steel in 1.5  –  2.0  times, but use of TiN  +  ZrN ionic-plasma coatings reduces friction coefficient in 5.9  times in comparison with the initial condition. Today multilayer coatings are very popular. The most widely spread are coatings of TiN  +  TiC and Al2 O3   +  TiC. Their surface wear is directly proportional to the coating thickness. Combined multilayer coatings described above are not the final solution to the problem of increasing wear resistance of hard alloys. The research projects are carried out in our country that are based on theoretical possibilities for obtaining strength of the hard alloy gradually from viscous and high-strength core to wear-resistant surface. The FSUE VNIITS has developed a  method for obtaining alloys with variable content of cobalt along the plate thickness. Due to this, it is possible to vary composition of alloys along the thickness of sample, from VK20 to VK2, as a result working part of plate has wear resistance equal to VK2 alloy, and the base enduressignificant bending stresses. Recently different cutting tools with diamond coatings on hard alloys have been used in Russia and all over the world. To increase the service life of hard-alloy plates of VK group, methods of hardening using concentrated energy flows are used. Among them there are hard alloys’surfaces treatment by γ-quanta, ion beams, laser beams; electro-explosive alloying, electro-erosion hardening by alloying etc. 

Thermodynamic modeling of process of metal desulphurization with boron-containing slags of the СаО – SiO2  – MgO – Al2 O3  – B2 O3 system was carried out using HSC 6.1 Chemistry (Outokumpu) software. Influence of process temperature (1500-1700 °С), basicity of slag (2  –  5) and content of В2 О3 (1  –  4  %) on desulphurization of steel was studied. It was established that increase in temperature of metal desulphurization process from 1500  °C to 1700  °C helps to reduce sulfur content in the studied range of slag basicity. At temperature of 1600  °C, sulfur content in metal was 0.0052  % for slag basicity of 2, and at 1650  °C its concentration was 0.0048  %. Increase in basicity of slag from 2 to 5 had encouraging effect on the degree of metal desulfurization, increasing it from 80.7 to 98.7  %, respectively, at temperature of 1600  °C. At the same time, an increase in В2 О3 concentration in slag had a negative effect on the process of metal desulfurization. Slag with basicity of 2, containing 1 and 4  % of В2 О3 , allowed to obtain the amount of sulfur in metal, 0.0052  % and 0.0098  % respectively at a temperature of 1600  °C, and slag with basicity of 5 with the same content of В2 О3 at the same temperature provided the amount of sulfur in metal 0.00036 and 0.00088  %, respectively. It should be noted that more favorable conditions for metal desulphurization provided the slag without В2 О3 oxide comparing with the boron containing one. Slag with basicity of 2 and 5 without В2 О3 according to the results of thermodynamic modeling allowed to obtain metal at temperature of 1600  °C with sulfur content of 0.0039 and 0.00019  %, respectively. Results of calculation of thermodynamic modeling of metal desulphurization process with boron-containing slags of СаО – SiO2  – MgO – Al2 O3  – B2 O3 system with basicity of 2  –  5 in temperature range of 1500  –  1700  °C correlate with experimental data and can apply to improving technology of steel desulphurization with boron-containing slags in steelmaking industry. 

Using the equations of physico-chemical hydrodynamics and the data obtained earlier on the surface and interfacial properties of metallic and oxide melts, conditions for the formation of the metallic phase during bubbling of the oxidized nickel ore melt by carbon monoxide are described. Critical dimensions of the gas bubble (Rb ) cr and the metal droplet (rd)cr are determined, moving in the oxide melt without crushing in the temperature range from 1550 to 1750 °C. It was found that the value of (Rb)cr varies with temperature and increases from 6.35·10–2  m (1550 °C) to 6.58·10–2  m (1750  °C), (rd ) cr depends on composition of the droplet and temperature and varies from 2.1·10–3  m to 2.9·10–3  m. The size of metal droplets formed on a single bubble is determined upon reduction of nickel and iron from the oxide melt. As the content of nickel and iron oxides decreases in the melt with an increase in the total CO flow rate, nickel content in ferronickel drops decreases from 89 to 18  %, and their diameters decrease from 1.4·10–3  m to 8.0·10–4  m. In this case, mass of the drop decreases from 9.4·10–5 to 1.6·10–5  kg. The conditions for emergence of the “gas bubble – a drop of metal” system from their dimensions are revealed. In all intervals of temperature and nickel content, the “bubble CO  – a  drop of metal” system begins to rise in the oxide melt at a ratio rk  / Rn of less than 0.68  –  0.78. To assess the stability of the “bubble CO  – drop of metal” system at the above bubble and droplet sizes, calculations of the parameters determining their joint motion were carried out. It is shown that the separation of a drop of metal from a bubble is not possible under the conditions of the process in pyrometallurgical aggregates. The process of metal phase formation as a result of barbotage reduction of nickel and iron by carbon monoxide is described, which consists in the following. The interaction of the oxide melt with the gas is accompanied by formation of metal droplets, which are fixed to the bubbles moving to the surface of the oxide melt. Initially, a metal with content of 80  –  90  % Ni is formed, and as the proportion of nickel in the oxide melt decreases, its content in the metal drops is reduced to 20  %. On the surface of the oxide melt, the metal droplets merge, when they reach a size of more than 5·10–3  m, they “break through” the surface and descend to the bottom. In the case of a collision of a drop with the “bubble-drop” systems approaching them, they can how to merge with them, and flow around them. At the confluence, small drops will be assimilated and raised to the surface. The force of separation of the droplet from the bubble is substantially greater than the gravity of the droplets, so the bubble-drop system of the metal is stable for all considered ratios of their sizes. 

Critical in the creation of ERP-system of the enterprise is the first stage of the system. Simultaneous introduction of all services for all business processes of the enterprise, as a rule, isn’t possible or expedient for various reasons: lack of sufficient resources, difficulties of creation of necessary technical infrastructure in short terms, big risks of radical reorganization of the operating control system, etc. Therefore, the functional volume of the 1st turn of the project joins the IT services providing effective functioning of the most interconnected business processes. The paper presents a mathematical formulation and procedure for solving the problem of determining the portfolio of IT services that realize the functions of the main business processes and make up the functional volume of the first stage of the ERP system of a large metallurgical company. Problem definition considers three important indicators of efficiency of the ERP-project: size of the project budget, number of communications between the IT services making the functional volume of the project (its “integration kernel”), number of the inherited design decisions from the systems of a “scrappy” computerization finding application in the enterprise resource planning. The first of these indicators is accepted as criterion of a task, other two – as its restrictions. As a result of formalization, the problem under consideration reduces to the problem of integer-valued quadratic programming. The method of network programming in modification used for the solution of nonlinear programming problems of is applied for its decision. The method decomposes a complex initial problem into a generalized dual task of network programming and a set of essentially simpler subtasks. An example is given of the solution of the problem under study in which the generalized dual problem of network programming is solved by the method of Lagrange multipliers, and individual subtasks are solved by the method of dichotomous programming, which reduces the solution of subproblems to the solution of a sequence of simple estimation problems. The solution of the task of forming a portfolio of services delivers the initial data for the task of scheduling the implementation of services by project groups responsible for the computerization of individual business processes of the enterprise. 

The results of research of the world and Russian markets of polyvinylchloride (PVC) are presented, their comparative estimation was carried out and similarities and differences of these segments were revealed at the present stage. It is noted that carbide technology, realized in PVC production process, can be competitive within cooperation of metallurgical, coal-mining and energy enterprises located in the same region, by reducing the costs of logistics associated with reduced transportation distances and production costs of raw materials. Theoretical possibility of significant prospects for development of domestic production of PVC, ensuring achievement of import and export substitution of this product in the Russian Federation was substantiated. On the basis of vertical integration of the enterprises of ferrous metallurgy with other coal-mining and processing enterprises of Kuzbass, new technological solutions for PVC production using combined method were developed. To evaluate feasibility of acetylene production technologies, taking into account economic costs, factorial analysis method was used, which makes it possible to estimate economic costs of production within enterprises cooperation. It is significant that enterprises of metallurgical complex use not only methane as raw material, obtained from coal seams and delivered in liquefied form, but also coke oven gas as a by-product of the main coke-chemical production. Carbide acetylene can compete with ethylene as a raw material for vinyl chloride production if its cost does not exceed more than 40  % the cost of ethylene. Studies carried out in close connection with carbon chemistry make it possible to contribute to development of multistage PVC synthesis technologies based on cooperation of a number of chemical and metallurgical industries. It was established that organization of polyvinylchloride production using carbon-chemical technologies can become a promising growth point and play a role of pulling project for the business in the Kemerovo region, allow diversification of the production of metallurgical enterprise, expand product structure and export opportunities of “Koks” PJSC. 

A mechanism is proposed that explains high value of heat transfer coefficient for accelerated cooling of rolled products. At velocities greater than the critical value, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability arises in nanoscale, which leads to formation of nanodroplets. Cooling is carried out with the help of nanotubes moving through such a vapor film. This allows using the coefficient of heat transfer calculated by the formula in which thermal conductivity of water is taken into account when modeling structural-phase transformations. The second role of nanodrops is to generate a thermal shock, due to which powerful thermoelastic waves are formed. The  role of elastic waves is to increase the toughness, since the cracks that appear in the first cooling stage in subsequent sections when the elastic wave interacts with the free shores of the cracks, collapse.

A thermodynamic analysis of the joint effect of aluminum and titanium on the solubility of oxygen in nickel-based melts has been carried out. It has shown that due to the formation of complex oxide Al2 O3 ·TiO2 titanium enhances the deoxidizing ability of aluminum. The effect of titanium is manifested at an aluminum content of up to 0.01  %, at higher aluminum concentrations it alone determines the solubility of oxygen in the melt. The optimum content of titanium is about 0.2 %. 

Index of articles “Izvestiya VUZov. Chernaya metallurgiya = Izvestiya. Ferrous Metallurgy”.