Electron microstructure and mechanical properties of silicon and aluminium ductile irons

Samples of unalloyed silicon and aluminium spheroidal graphite cast iron have been studied in the austempered condition. Austempering times of up 3 h at 400°C for Al SG and 1 h at 350°C for Si SG gives a typical ADI microstructure consising of carbide-free banitic ferrite and stable, high carbon enriched, retained austenite. This has an attractive combination of elongation and strength. For longer austempering times transition carbides are precipitated in the bainitic ferrite, η-carbide in the upper bainitic range, i.e.400°C for Al SG and 350°C for Si SG, and ϵ-carbide in the lower bainite range. Increasing amounts of transition carbide reduce the ductility and produce a mixed model of fracture. For longer austempring times _X-carbide is precipitated at the ferrite/austenite boundaries leading to a more brittle fracture mode.     

Examination of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) As Per Austempering Temperature and Time

Austempered ductile iron is a heat treated form of as-cast ductile iron. The heat treatment process-austempering, was developed with the intent of improving the strength and toughness of ferrous alloys. It offers a range of mechanical properties superior to those of other cast iron, and shows excellent economic competitiveness with steels and aluminum alloys. The main aim is to analyze the mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of as-cast ductile iron austenitized at 900 °C for 90 min and afterward austempered over a range of temperatures to obtain distinctive microstructures. The samples were austempered for durations of 60, 90 and 180 min at each austempering temperature of 340, 360, 380, and 400 °C. The influence of these austempering temperatures and times on the microstructure and tensile properties were investigated at room temperature.     

Effects of Ti, V, and rare earth on the mechanical properties of austempered high silicon cast steel

The microstructure and mechanical properties of austempered high silicon cast steel pro and after treating with a modifier containing titanium, vanadium, and rare earth metals (so-called Ti-V-RE modifier) and austempered at different temperatures are investigated. The results show that the dendritic austempered structure and the blocky retained austenite are reduced after treating with the Ti-V-RE modifier. The modification can obviously improve the mechanical properties of austempered high silicon cast steel. The austempering temperature at which the optimum impact toughness is obtained shifts from about 320 °C for the steel unmodified to about 360 °C for the steel modified. High impact toughness is obtained in austempered high silicon cast steel high silicon cast steel when the retained austenite amount is about 15 to 25 pct for the modified steel and 20 to 35 pct for the unmodified steel.     

Comparison of High-Temperature Properties and Thermal Shock Resistance of Austempered Ductile Irons (ADI) with Those of Pearlitic Ductile Cast Irons

High-temperature strength and thermal shock resistance of austempered ductile iron (ADI) in high temperatures because of instability of ausferrite phase has been less interest. The aim of this study is to investigate the tensile properties of ADI and pearlitic ductile cast iron by using the short-time tensile test in high temperatures. Tensile test was conducted in temperatures of 298 K, 673 K, 873 K, and 1073 K (25 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C, and 800 °C). Thermal shock test also was conducted by using the molten lead bath at 1273 K (1000 °C). In this experiment, samples of pearlitic ductile cast iron and ADI were divided in two groups; that after immersing in the molten lead bath for 25 seconds, one group was cooled in the air and other one was quenched in the water. Results showed that strength and thermal shock resistance of ADI samples are higher than those of the pearlitic ductile cast iron.     

Microstructural Refinement of Bainite and Martensite for Enhanced Strength and Toughness in High-Carbon Low-Alloy Steel

This study attempts to determine the scope and extent of microstructural refinement through complete/partial recrystallization of prior cold deformed ferrite during austenitizing (1223 K (950 °C), 15 minutes) and/or austempering (543 K (270 °C), 30 minutes) followed by water quenching to obtain ultrafine bainitic sheaves along with thin martensitic plates in SAE 52100 steel. The volume fraction and sheaf/plate dimension (thickness/length) of bainitic ferrite and martensite were determined by optical and scanning/transmission electron microscopy studies coupled with compositional microanalysis. Marginal improvement in the tensile strength and significant improvement in the impact properties is obtained at an optimum level of prior cold deformation by tension in comparison to that recorded in austempered condition without prior deformation.     

A transmission electron microscope study of 1 Pct Mn ductile iron with different austempering treatments

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) system was used to study the bainitic reaction in a conventional and a successive austempering process for 1 wt pct Mn ductile iron. In the case of conventional austempering, the specimens were full austenitized at 900 °C and then austempered at 375 °C (high austempering temperature) and 315 °C (low austempering temperature) for different periods. In the case of the successive austempering process, following austempering at 375 °C for different periods, specimens were austempered at 315 °C, and subsequently quenched in ice water. The TEM-EDS study showed that carbide precipitation in the ferritic and retained austenitic component of bainite is a function of the local concentrations of the alloying elements, austempering time, and temperature. After a short time at high austempering temperature, carbide-free bainite forms near graphite nodules. Longer austempering time or lower austempering temperature encourages carbide precipitation in the bainitic ferrite. A long austempering time at high temperature leads to decomposition of retained austenite to ferrite and carbide. A rough inspection shows that the precipitated carbides in the ferritic component of specimens austempered at low temperature lie at an angle of about 40 to 50 deg to the sheaf axis.     

Mechanical Characterization of Austempered Ductile Iron Obtained by Two Step Austempering Process

Austempered ductile iron (ADI) is known to have a good combination of mechanical properties due its unique ausferrite microstructure. The strength of ADI is mainly a function of the austempering temperature and the stability of ausferrite matrix. To increase the stability of the ausferritic matrix, two stage austempering processes was developed. During this investigation, in the Ist step, ductile iron specimens were austenitized at 900 °C for 60 min followed by quenching to 250 °C in salt bath. In the IInd step, after quenching at 250 °C, the salt bath was gradually heated to 350 °C, 400 °C and 450 °C respectively where specimen were soaked for 120 min. The tensile strength and impact strength were evaluated according to ASTM standards. The results were compared with that obtained by conventional austempering process by quenching directly into salt bath at 400 °C for 120 min. Both tensile and impact strength were found to have improved by two step austempering process. During Ist stage of austempering, martensite was observed while during IInd stage of austempering microstructures revealed acicular ferrite and carbon stabilized austenite. The fractographic examination revealed mixed type of fracture mode and intergranular fracture was seen under SEM. It was further observed that the tensile strength decreased whereas the impact strength increased with IInd stage of austempering temperature.     

Dependence of fracture toughness of austempered ductile iron on austempering temperature

Ductile cast iron samples were austenitized at 927 °C and subsequently austempered for 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours at 260 °C, 288 °C, 316 °C, 343 °C, 371 °C, and 399 °C. These were subjected to a plane strain fracture toughness test. Fracture toughness was found to initially increase with austempering temperature, reach a maximum, and then decrease with further rise in temperature. The results of the fracture toughness study and fractographic examination were correlated with microstructural features such as bainite morphology, the volume fraction of retained austenite, and its carbon content. It was found that fracture toughness was maximized when the microstructure consisted of lower bainite with about 30 vol pct retained austenite containing more than 1.8 wt pct carbon. A theoretical model was developed, which could explain the observed variation in fracture toughness with austempering temperature in terms of microstructural features such as the width of the ferrite blades and retained austenite content. A plot of K _IC ² against σ _y (X _γ, C _γ)^1/2 resulted in a straight line, as predicted by the model.     

Tempered martensite embrittlement in SAE 4340 steel

The toughness of SAE 4340 steel with low (0.003 wt pct) and high (0.03 wt pct) phosphorus has been evaluated by Charpy V notch (CVN) impact and compact tension plane strain fracture toughness (K _1c) tests of specimens quenched and tempered up to 673 K (400°C). Both the high and low P steel showed the characteristic tempered martensite embrittlement (TME) plateau or trough in room temperature CVN impact toughness after tempering at temperatures between 473 K (200°C) and 673 K (400°C). The CVN energy absorbed by low P specimens after tempering at any temperature was always about 10 J higher than that of the high P specimens given the same heat treatment. Interlath carbide initiated cleavage across the martensite laths was identified as the mechanism of TME in the low P 4340 steel, while intergranular fracture, apparently due to a combination of P segregation and carbide formation at prior austenite grain boundaries, was associated with TME in the high P steel.K _IC values reflected TME in the high P steels but did not show TME in the low P steel, a result explained by the formation of a narrow zone of ductile fracture adjacent to the fatigue precrack during fracture toughness testing. The ductile fracture zone was attributed to the low rate of work hardening characteristic of martensitic steels tempered above 473 K (200°C).     

Mechanical behaviour of an austempered ductile iron

Austempering of a ferrite-pearlitic grade of ductile iron was carried out to assess the potential use of the material for crank shaft application reported. A commercial material was austempered at 340°C to realize the properties. The austempered ductile iron gave good strength although the ductility values were lower. The material developed had complete ausferritric structure free of pearlite. The various phase constitution and phase transformation associated with the treatment and during mechanical deformation was examined. Using XRD analysis the volume fraction of the austenite in the matrix was estimated. The various aspects of processing a commercial cast iron during ausetmpering, the phase transformation, microstructural evolution have been examined along with the property of the material. The mechanical behaviour of the material and the scope for further improvement is discussed.     

Carbide precipitation and high-temperature strength of hot-rolled high-strength,low-alloy steels containing Nb and Mo

The effects of a Mo addition on both the precipitation kinetics and high-temperature strength of a Nb carbide have been investigated in the hot-rolled high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels containing both Nb and Mo. These steels were fabricated by four-pass hot rolling and coiling at 650°C, 600°C, and 550°C. Microstructural analysis of the carbides has been performed using field-emission gun transmission electron microscopy (TEM) employing energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The steels containing both Nb and Mo exhibited a higher strength at high temperatures (∼600 °C) in comparison to the steel containing only Nb. The addition of Mo increased the hardenability and led to the refinement of the bainitic microstructure. The proportion of the bainitic phase increased with the increase of Mo content. The TEM observations revealed that the steels containing both Nb and Mo exhibited fine (<10 nm) and uniformly distributed metal carbide (MC)-type carbides, while the carbides were coarse and sparsely distributed in the steels containing Nb only. The EDS analysis also indicated that the fine MC carbides contain both Nb and Mo, and the ratio of Mo/Nb was higher in the finer carbides. In addition, electron diffraction analysis revealed that most of the MC carbides had one variant of the B-N relationship ((100)_MC//(100)_ferrite, [011]_MC//[010]_ferrite) with the matrix, suggesting that they were formed in the ferrite region. That is, the addition of Mo increased the nucleation sites of MC carbides in addition to the bainitic transformation, which resulted in finer and denser MC carbides. It is, thus, believed that the enhanced high-temperature strength of the steels containing both Nb and Mo was attributed to both bainitic transformation hardening and the precipitation hardening caused by uniform distribution of fine MC particles.     

Effects of Start and Finish Cooling Temperatures on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Low-Carbon High-Strength and Low-Yield Ratio Bainitic Steels

The effects of start and finish cooling temperatures on microstructure and mechanical properties of low-carbon high-strength and low-yield ratio bainitic steels were investigated in this study. Four kinds of low-carbon high-strength and low-yield ratio bainitic steels were fabricated by varying the start and finish cooling temperatures and cooling rates, and their microstructure and mechanical properties such as tensile and Charpy impact properties were measured. In the steels cooled down from the high start cooling temperature above Ar₁ [978 K (705 °C)], the volume fraction of acicular ferrite is lower than in the steels cooled down from the low start cooling temperature below Ar₁ [978 K (705 °C)]. The finish cooling temperatures and cooling rates affect the formation of bainitic ferrite, granular bainite, and martensite–austenite (MA) constituents. According to the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties, the tensile strength increases with increasing the volume fractions of bainitic ferrite and MA constituents, whereas the elongation decreases. The yield ratio decreases as the volume fraction of MA constituents increases. Charpy impact absorbed energy is proportional to the volume fraction of acicular ferrite, and is inversely proportional to the volume fraction of granular bainite.     

Effect of long-term service exposure on microstructure and mechanical properties of a crmov steam turbine rotor steel

The influence of prolonged service exposure on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a 1Cr-1Mo-0.25V steam turbine rotor steel has been studied. The samples for this study were taken from four locations of a rotor which had operated for 23 years. The operating temperatures at these locations were 288 °C, 425 °C, 510 °C, and 527 °C. The impact of retempering at 677 °C of steel exposed at 425 °C was also investigated. Service exposure at 288 °C brought no noticeable changes in either tensile properties or microstructure; the steel contained coarse bainitic cementite, extremely fine spheroidal MC, and thin platelets of M₂C. Service exposure at 510 °C led to profuse precipitation of cementite along grain boundaries in addition to increasing M₂C precipitation. These changes resulted in a slight decrease in the yield and tensile strengths and a marginal increase in ductility. Service exposure at 527 °C produced grain boundary precipitation of M₂₃C6, coarsening of MC, and more profuse precipitation of M₂C and caused a considerable decrease in strength and an increase in ductility. Retempering at 677 °C for 24 hours resulted in more precipitation of M₂₃C₆ and considerable coarsening of MC, without affecting further the size or shape of M₂C. The strength of the steel decreased drastically and the reduction in area increased considerably due to retempering. These changes in microstructure and mechanical properties indicate that service exposure at 527 °C for 23 years did not produce a stable microstructure. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the rotor steel would continue to deteriorate in future operation.     

Effects of Rolling and Cooling Conditions on Microstructure and Tensile and Charpy Impact Properties of Ultra-Low-Carbon High-Strength Bainitic Steels

Six ultra-low-carbon high-strength bainitic steel plates were fabricated by controlling rolling and cooling conditions, and effects of bainitic microstructure on tensile and Charpy impact properties were investigated. The microstructural evolution was more critically affected by start cooling temperature and cooling rate than by finish rolling temperature. Bainitic microstructures such as granular bainites (GBs) and bainitic ferrites (BFs) were well developed as the start cooling temperature decreased or the cooling rate increased. When the steels cooled from 973 K or 873 K (700 °C or 600 °C) were compared under the same cooling rate of 10 K/s (10 °C/s), the steels cooled from 973 K (700 °C) consisted mainly of coarse GBs, while the steels cooled from 873 K (600 °C) contained a considerable amount of BFs having high strength, thereby resulting in the higher strength but the lower ductility and upper shelf energy (USE). When the steels cooled from 673 K (400 °C) at a cooling rate of 10 K/s (10 °C/s) or 0.1 K/s (0.1 °C/s) were compared under the same start cooling temperature of 873 K (600 °C), the fast cooled specimens were composed mainly of coarse GBs or BFs, while the slowly cooled specimens were composed mainly of acicular ferrites (AFs). Since AFs had small effective grain size and contained secondary phases finely distributed at grain boundaries, the slowly cooled specimens had a good combination of strength, ductility, and USE, together with very low energy transition temperature (ETT).     

Effects of Mn and Cr contents on microstructures and mechanical properties of low temperature bainitic steel

The effects of Mn and Cr contents on bainitic transformation kinetics,microstructures and mechanical properties of high-carbon low alloy steels after austempered at 230,300 and 350 ℃ were determined by dilatometry,optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction and tensile tests. The results showed that Mn and Cr can extend bainitic incubation period and completion time,and with the increase of Mn and Cr content,the bainitic ferrite plate thickness decreased and the volume fraction of retained austenite increased. TRIP( transformation induced plasticity) effect was observed during tensile testing which improved the overall mechanical property. The increase of Mn concentration can improve the strength to a certain extent,but reduce the ductility. The increase of Cr concentration can improve the ductility of bainitic steels which transformed at a low temperature. The low temperature bainitic steel austempered at 230 ℃ exhibited excellent mechanical properties with ultimate tensile strength of( 2146 ± 11) MPa and total elongation of( 12. 95 ± 0. 15) %.     

Granular product in a high strength,low alloy containing molybdenum and niobium

The formation and microstructure of the granular product and its effect on the mechanical properties of a high-strength, low alloy steel containing molybdenum and niobium have been investigated. It was found that the granular product “islands” are composed of both twinned martensite and dislocated martensite. The effect of the granular “islands” on the strength at room temperature and at 400 °C has been determined. The results showed that the strength increased and both the impact and fracture toughness decreased as the volume fraction of granular “islands” was increased.In situ fracture studies indicated that the three stages of the microfracture process of the specimen containing granular “islands” are the initiation of voids at interfaces between the granular “islands” and the bainitic ferrite matrix, followed by void growth and finally, coalescence by shear.     

The effect of phosphorus segregation on the intermediate-temperature embrittlement of ferritic,spheroidal graphite cast iron

The objective of this article is to study the effect of phosphorus segregation on the fracture modes of the intermediate-temperature intergranular embrittlement which occur in ferritic, spheroidal graphite cast iron. The specimens were quenched from 820 °C and 500 °C during the furnace-cooling period of ferritization annealing in order to vary the degree of phosphorus segregation, then deformed in tension at various temperatures between 20 °C and 520 °C with a constant crosshead speed of 0.01 mm/s. These two kinds of specimens were also fractured by impact at about -50 °C in the vacuum chamber of a scanning Auger microscope in order to analyze the phosphorus segregation and compare the fracture modes. The results show that the fracture mode of the intermediate-temperature embrittlement is influenced by the history of heat treatment prior to tension. When the specimens were held at 500 °C and quenched from this temperature, the fracture was intergranular. However, the specimens quenched from 820 °C revealed cleavage fracture with cracks propagating radially from a central region with magnesium-rich particles. Identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the particles were MgO. Grain-boundary segregation of phosphorus in the specimen held at 500 °C was confirmed by Auger analysis of the impact fracture surface. Segregation of phosphorus must play an important role in the fracture mode of the intermediate-temperature intergranular embrittlement.     

Effects of Oxides on Tensile and Charpy Impact Properties and Fracture Toughness in Heat Affected Zones of Oxide-Containing API X80 Linepipe Steels

This study is concerned with effects of complex oxides on acicular ferrite (AF) formation, tensile and Charpy impact properties, and fracture toughness in heat affected zones (HAZs) of oxide-containing API X80 linepipe steels. Three steels were fabricated by adding Mg and O₂ to form oxides, and various HAZ microstructures were obtained by conducting HAZ simulation tests under different heat inputs. The no. of oxides increased with increasing amount of Mg and O₂, while the volume fraction of AF present in the steel HAZs increased with increasing the no. of oxides. The strengths of the HAZ specimens were generally higher than those of the base metals because of the formation of hard microstructures of bainitic ferrite and granular bainite. When the total Charpy absorbed energy was divided into the fracture initiation and propagation energies, the fracture initiation energy was maintained constant at about 75 J at room temperature, irrespective of volume fraction of AF. The fracture propagation energy rapidly increased from 75 to 150 J and saturated when the volume fraction of AF exceeded 30 pct. At 253 K (?20 °C), the total absorbed energy increased with increasing volume fraction of AF, as the cleavage fracture was changed to the ductile fracture when the volume fraction of AF exceeded 45 pct. Thus, 45 vol pct of AF at least was needed to improve the Charpy impact energy, which could be achieved by forming a no. of oxides. The fracture toughness increased with increasing the no. of oxides because of the increased volume fraction of AF formed around oxides. The fracture toughness did not show a visible correlation with the Charpy absorbed energy at room temperature, because toughness properties obtained from these two toughness testing methods had different significations in view of fracture mechanics.     

Investigation on Tensile Behaviour of Laser Welded Al–Mg–Sc–Zr In Situ TiB<Subscript>2</Subscript> Reinforced Metal Matrix Composite

The objective of the present work is to investigate the tensile behavior on laser welded Al–Mg–Sc–Zr in situ nano TiB₂ composite. Al–3.5Mg–0.15Sc–0.075Zr–1TiB₂ composite was melted in a resistance heating furnace. TiB₂ was formed during in situ reaction of K₂TiF₆ and KBF₄ salt mixture at 750 °C for 60 min. Welding was done using Nd:YAG pulsed laser source JK 600 (GSI make) using a robotic (IRB1410 of ABB) laser set up. The autogenous welding experiments were carried out using some of the significant parameters such as frequency—75 Hz, laser beam energy—8.10 J, pulse width—2.5 ms and welding speed—5 mm/s. It was observed that laser beam power played a major role and lower value of energy with higher repetition rate resulted better and uniform weld bead with full penetration. Five different processing methods were utilized to investigate the mechanical and metallurgical properties namely: (a) as cast (AC), (b) as cast followed by welding (AC + W), (c) as cast followed by aging (AC + A), (d) as cast followed by aging and then welding (AC + A + W) and finally (e) as cast followed by welding and then aging (AC + W + A). The ageing treatment followed was heating the samples at 300 °C for 5 h followed by air cooling. The obtained results infered that apart from the obvious superior properties shown by as cast followed by aging treatment (AC + A: 248 MPa); the AC + W + A specimens showed better properties (235 MPa) along with AC + A + W specimens (226 MPa). The fracture surface analyses revealed the following: (a) the weld region in the laser welded as cast material did not show any TiB₂ in the structure probably due to the fact that temperature experienced during laser welding process might have melted the particles and was dissolved in the solid solution, (b) the interface of the weld-base region showed the presence of few TiB₂ particles which lost their hexagonal shape due to preferential melting along the edges. (c) The fracture morphology of both AC + A + W and AC + W + A specimen’s showed typical mixed mode fracture with fine precipitates along the interface. The strength increased in AC + W + A at the expense of ductility due to formation of Al₃Sc precipitates.     

The fatigue and fracture resistance of a Nb-Cr-Ti-Al alloy

The microstructure, fatigue, and fracture behaviors of a cast and heat-treated Nb-Cr-Ti-Al alloy were investigated. The microstructure of the cast alloy was manipulated by annealing at a temperature ranging from 500 °C to 1500 °C for 1 to 24 hours. The heat treatment produced Cr₂Nb precipitates along grain boundaries in all cases except in the 500 °C heat-treated material. Fracture toughness tests indicated low fracture resistance in both the as-cast and heat-treated materials. Fatigue crack growth tests performed on the 500 °C heat-treated material also indicated a low fatigue crack growth resistance. Direct observations of the near-tip region revealed a cleavage-dominated fracture process, in accordance with fractographic evidence. The fracture behavior of the Nb-Cr-Ti-Al alloy was compared to that of other Nb-Cr-Ti alloys. In addition, theoretical calculations of both the unstable stacking energy (USE) and Peierls-Nabarro (P-N) barrier energy are used to elucidate the role of Al additions in cleavage fracture of the Nb-Cr-Ti-Al alloy. The results indicate that an Al alloying addition increases the USE, which, in turn, prevents the emission of dislocations, promotes the nucleation and propagation of cleavage cracks from the crack tip, and leads to a reduction in the fracture toughness.