Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Bearing Steels Modified for Preparing Nanostructured Bainite

Mo containing high-C-Cr bearing steel was modified with Si (0.8–1.5 wt.%) and 0.8Si–1.0Al to prepare nanostructured bainite by low-temperature isothermal heat treatment. The modified steels were isothermal held at 220 to 240 °C after partial austenitization in an intercritical gamma+carbide region, and the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties were studied. Carbide-free nanostructured bainite with plate thickness below 100 nm and film retained austenite, as well as a small amount of undissolved carbide particles, was obtained in the modified steels except in 0.8Si steel, in which carbides precipitated in bainitic ferrite. As Si content increased, the mean thickness of bainitic ferrite plates modestly decreased, whereas the fraction of retained austenite markedly increased. The thickness of bainitic ferrite plate and the fraction of retained austenite in Si-Al-modified steel were smaller than those in Si-modified steels. The hardness and elongation of the Si-Al-modified steel were lower than those of Si-modified steels. The yield strength of Si-Al-modified steel was superior to that of Si-modified steels. Mid-level ultimate tensile strength and impact toughness were achieved in Si-Al-modified steel. For bearing applications, Si-modified steels could provide higher hardness and toughness but lower dimensional stability. Meanwhile, Si-Al-modified steel could offer higher dimensional stability but lower hardness and toughness.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Austempered Medium-Carbon Spring Steel

Changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of medium-carbon spring steel during austempering were investigated. After austempering for 1 h at 290 °C or 330 °C, the bainite transformation stabilized austenite, and microstructure consisting of bainitic ferrite and austenite could be obtained after final cooling; the retained austenite fraction was smaller in the alloy austempered at 290 °C because carbon redistribution between bainitic ferrite and austenite slowed as the temperature decreased, and thereby gave persistent driving force for the bainite transformation. The products of tensile strength and reduction of area in the austempered alloy were much larger in the austempered steel than in quenched and tempered alloy, mainly because of significant increase in reduction of area in austempered alloy.     

不同碳含量贝氏体合金钢等温淬火后的组织与性能

研究了3种碳含量(0.22C、0.34C、0.45C)的贝氏体钢在960℃奥氏体化+Ms点以上10～50℃等温淬火工艺下碳含量对贝氏体组织转变和力学性能的影响。结果表明,3种试验钢经过等温淬火处理后均获得由贝氏体铁素体和残留奥氏体相间分布组成的无碳化物贝氏体组织;随着碳含量的降低,贝氏体相变时间显著缩短,贝氏体铁素体板条变厚,硬度和抗拉强度呈下降趋势,但冲击性能显著提高,这主要是与低碳钢贝氏体转变温度更高,贝氏体铁素体板条粗大但高碳含量的大块状残留奥氏体减少有关。     

Effect of Microstructure on Tensile Behavior and Mechanical Stability of Retained Austenite in a Cold-Rolled Al-Containing TRIP Steel

In the present study, a quenching treatment prior to two-stage heat treatment was conducted on a Fe–0.28 C–1.55 Mn–2.06 Al transformation-induced plasticity steel to tailor the final microstructure. Compared with the microstructure of the ferrite, bainite and blocky retained austenite obtained by conventional two-stage heat treatment, the microstructure subjected to quenching plus two-stage heat treatment was composed of the ferrite, lath bainite and film-like retained austenite. The corresponding tensile behavior and mechanical stability of retained austenite were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the mechanical stability of blocky retained austenite grains is lower and most of them transform to martensite during the tensile deformation, which leads to higher ultimate tensile strength and instantaneous work hardening exponent. Film-like retained austenite has relatively higher stability, which could cause sustained work hardening and high ductility as well as product of strength and elongation.     

回火温度对高强无碳化物贝氏体钢无缝管组织和性能的影响

研究了正火后回火温度对无碳化物贝氏体钢无缝钢管组织和性能的影响。试验结果表明,930 ℃正火后在600 ℃以下回火时,随回火温度的提高,试验材料的抗拉强度有降低的趋势,但降幅不大,强度在973~1012 MPa变化。试验材料的冲击吸收能量在300 ℃达到最大值,为72 J;400 ℃回火时,冲击吸收能量出现最低值,出现无碳化物贝氏体钢的回火脆性;回火温度超过400 ℃时,冲击吸收能量上升;300~350 ℃回火时,伸长率和断面收缩率最高。在400 ℃以下回火时,试验材料的组织由无碳化物贝氏体、块状铁素体和残留奥氏体组成;超过400 ℃回火时,组织为粒状贝氏体及块状铁素体。无碳化物贝氏体钢无缝钢管930 ℃正火,300 ℃回火时具有较佳的综合力学性能。     

硅合金钢淬火组织中残留奥氏体的力学稳定性与力学性能

对含Si合金钢两相(马氏体-M,贝氏体-B)区系列等温淬火显微组织中残留奥氏体稳定性进行了研究。结果表明,在下贝氏体区等温淬火可获得准(无碳化物)贝氏体(BF AB)组织,合理的回火工艺可使显微组织中残留奥氏体减少到适量,增加残留奥氏体中的C含量,降低Ms、Md点温度和提高其力学稳定性,从而达到最佳强韧性配合。     

Effect of silicon content and annealing temperature on formation of retained austenite and mechanical properties in multi-phase steels

Cold-rolled and annealed ultra-high strength sheet steels with good ductility accompanied by TRIP of retained austenite have received considerable attention in recent years. This paper discusses the effect of silicon content and annealing temperature on the formation of retained austenite and the mechanical properties in Fe-0.34%C-1.7% Mn steels whose structure consists of ferrite, bainite and retained austenite. Silicon inhibited the cementite formation in bainite during isothermal holding and partitioned carbon from bainite to austenite, resulting in an increase in retained austenite content. When the silicon content was increased to 1.0 wt.% or higher, the amount of retained austenite markedly increased leading to good mechanical properties. 0.34%C-1.03%Si-1.7%Mn steel showed a high tensile strength of 1,030 MPa and a total elongation of 34.5% when annealed at 780°C for 5 min followed by isothermal holding at 400°C for 5 min. In this case, the amount of retained austenite was about 25%. The variation in tensile strength-elongation combination had good correlation with that in the amount of retained austenite with both annealing temperature and silicon content. The most retained austenite was obtained in the steel annealed at just above A_C1 temperature. The annealing temperature which gives the most retained austenite was decreased with decreasing the silicon content.     

Effect of Retained Austenite on Properties of Austempered Ductile Iron

Austempered ductile iron (ADI) exhibits a favourable combination of strength and toughness, and has been used as a substitute for quench-tempered or carburise-quenched steel. A characteristic feature of bainite transformation of cast iron, as opposed to carbon steel, is that precipitation of carbide is suppressed by the high concentration of silicon. Thus, a favourable structure, consisting of bainitic ferrite and retained austenite without carbide, can be provided by the optimum austempering treatment. Such microstructure and the mechanical properties of the iron are significantly affected by the conditions of the austempering treatment and the chemical composition. In this study, several grades of ductile iron were austempered under various conditions. The relationship between the impact strength, the quantity of retained austenite and the isothermal transformation curve was investigated. The stability of the retained austenite is considered important, because ADI contains a large amount of retained austenite which contributes to the improvement of ductility and toughness and which may transform to martensite when held at low temperature or subjected to stress. In this study, the stability of the retained austenite at low temperatures was examined by holding or stressing to establish the relations between transformation and temperature, stress and strain.

When the austempering time is short, the untransformed austenite partially transforms to martensite during air cooling, due to the lower carbon content, resulting in lower impact strength. As the austempering time increases, the untransformed austenite is stabilised by carbon-enrichment and there is little transformation to martensite, resulting in a large amount of retained austenite and higher impact strength. When the austempering time becomes much longer, the carbon-enriched austenite decomposes, presumably to bainitic ferrite and carbide, decreasing impact strength. In increasing the silicon content, precipitation of carbide in bainite is suppressed and both the maximum impact value and the content of retained austenite increase. The decreasing rates after the maxima through an additional isothermal holding becomes smaller.

By holding at temperatures down to –40°C, the decrease in retained austenite and the increase in hardness are both small. The retained austenite is stable under stress lower than that required to cause plastic deformation. Compressive stress hinders the martensitic transformation, because the transformation is accompanied by volume expansion.     

Dependency of Deformation Behavior of Retained Austenite in TRIP Steels on Microstructural and Chemical Homogeneity

The room-temperature stability of the retained austenite against strain-induced martensitic transformation, its deformation behavior, the response to the bainitic isothermal treatment, the appearance of yield point elongation and other peculiarities of plastic flow, and the mechanical properties of transformation-induced plasticity(TRIP) steel were tailored based on the chemical homogeneity and the relative distribution of the retained austenite, bainite, and ferrite in the microstructure. The presence of ferritic-pearlitic banded structure in the initial microstructure resulted in an inhomogeneous TRIP microstructure, in which the retained austenite and bainite were confined to some bands and it was found to be responsible for the resultant inferior mechanical properties. The appearance of discontinuous yielding for the chemically inhomogeneous material was related to the martensitic transformation of unstable retained austenite at the initial stage of tensile deformation. These results are essential for better understanding of the behavior of advanced high-strength steels and their applications.     

A novel thermomechanical approach to produce a fine ferrite and low-temperature bainitic composite microstructure

A novel thermomechanical processing was developed in the present study to produce a unique microstructure consisting of fine ferrite grains (i.e. ～4 μm on average) and low-temperature bainite in a relatively low-carbon steel with a modest hardenability. The thermomechanical route consisted of warm deformation of supercooled austenite followed by reheating in the ferrite region and then cooling to the bainitic transformation regime (i.e. 400–200 °C). The low-temperature bainite consisted of high dislocation density bainitic laths and very fine retained austenite films. This microstructure offered a high work hardening rate leading to a unique combination of ultimate tensile strength and elongation. This was due to the presence of ductile fine ferrite grains and hard low-temperature bainitic ferrite laths with retained austenite films. The microstructural characteristics of bainite were studied using optical microscopy in conjunction with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and atom probe tomography techniques.     

Three-dimensional atom probe analysis of solute distribution in thermomechanically processed TRIP steels

Complex multiphase microstructures were obtained in transformation induced plasticity C–Mn–Si–(Nb–Al–Mo) steels by simulated controlled thermomechanical processing. These microstructures were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and three-dimensional atom probe tomography (APT), which was used to determine the partitioning of elements between different phases and microconstituents. The measured carbon concentration (∼0.25 at%) in the ferrite of carbide-free bainite was higher than expected from para-equilibrium between the austenite and ferrite, while the concentrations of substitutional elements were the same as in the parent austenite suggesting that incomplete bainite transformation occurred. In contrast, the distribution of substitutional elements between the ferrite lath and austenite in carbide-containing bainite indicated a complete bainite reaction. The average carbon content in the retained austenite (3.2 ± 1.6 at%) was somewhat higher than the T₀ limit. On the basis of the APT measured composition, the calculated M_s temperatures for retained austenite were above room temperature, indicating its low chemical stability.     

高硅铸钢残余奥氏体分布形态及其对力学性能的影响

采用透射电子显微镜(TEM)对高硅铸钢等温淬火热处理后的显微组织以及残余奥氏体分布形态进行了研究,对等温淬火组织中残余奥氏体量进行了测定.结果表明,残余奥氏体呈薄膜状及块状两种分布形态.薄膜状分布的残余奥氏体与贝氏体铁素体间的位向符合K-S关系,对钢的综合力学性能特别是韧性有积极的作用;而呈块状分布的残余奥氏体,由于其机械稳定性差,对钢的各项力学性能有不利的影响.要获得具有优异综合力学性能的高硅铸钢,薄膜状残余奥氏体与块状残余奥氏体体积分数量的比值Vγ-F/Vγ-B要大于1.0.     

回火工艺对1200 MPa级贝氏体钢轨组织性能的影响

对贝氏体钢轨钢不同工艺回火后的组织和性能进行研究.结果表明,350℃回火4h及以上,贝氏体钢轨屈服强度大于1000 MPa,抗拉强度大于1200 MPa,伸长率和断面收缩率分别大于15％和45％,室温冲击功大于150 J;在450～550℃回火时,出现明显的回火脆性.金相显微镜和透射电子显微镜观察表明,贝氏体轨钢以粒状贝氏体组织为主,残留奥氏体在板条间以M-A岛状形式分布.不同回火温度及3％拉伸变形后试验贝氏体轨钢残留奥氏体的测定结果表明,350℃回火时的残留奥氏体机械稳定性最好.贝氏体钢轨的强韧性随回火温度的变化与残留奥氏体的机械稳定性密切相关.     

冷却介质对高强度贝氏体耐磨钢板组织和力学性能的影响

研究了不同冷却介质对贝氏体耐磨钢板组织和力学性能的影响。结果表明，轧制、低温回火及热轧后奥氏体化空冷低温回火耐磨板的组织为板条贝氏体铁素体和残留奥氏体，油冷、水冷热处理耐磨板的组织为板条马氏体和残留奥氏体。经轧制、低温回火及奥氏体化空冷低温回火，新型贝氏体耐磨钢板具有良好的强韧性配合。热轧后用控制奥氏体化介质冷却可以获得不同力学性能的耐磨钢板．     

感应加热回火对X120管线钢组织和力学性能的影响

为进一步探索改善X120管线钢的韧塑性,用X120工业连铸坯在实验室采用TMCP和TMCP后立即感应加热至500和550℃回火工艺进行模拟轧制试验,并检测其力学性能,采用扫描电镜、透射电镜分析了不同工艺下钢的组织及析出物形貌、尺寸及分布,用X射线衍射方法分析了残留奥氏体。结果表明:X120钢组织为下贝氏体、少量针状铁素体以及微量MA。感应加热回火后,板条贝氏体和针状铁素体粗化,小尺寸析出物数量明显增加。这种回火使X120钢韧塑性改善,伸长率达到17.24%,-60℃下冲击功达到232.7 J;不利的是,钢的屈服强度提高和抗拉强度下降导致屈强比更高。性能变化是回火后贝氏体组织粗化、α-Fe基体上大量析出细小弥散碳氮化铌以及残留奥氏体体积分数的变化引起的.     

快速回火工艺条件下超高强低碳贝氏体钢的组织与性能

采用盐浴热处理试验,结合扫描电镜、透射电镜及室温拉伸试验,研究了快速加热+短时保温快速回火条件下超高强低碳贝氏体钢的组织和性能变化规律。结果表明,快速回火工艺下,超高强低碳贝氏体钢发生碳过饱和贝氏体和马氏体中的碳化物析出、铁素体和马氏体的重构以及微合金析出物的析出等现象,进而影响材料的强塑性;在700℃以下快速回火时,与以板条状贝氏体(LB)组织为主的复相贝氏体钢相比,以粒状贝氏体(GB)组织为主的钢具有更好的回火稳定性;在750～800℃两相区快速回火时,铁素体和马氏体相大量重构,最终形成粗大铁素体和马氏体,抗拉强度大幅提升,屈强强度大幅降低,且以LB组织为主的复相贝氏体钢中重构铁素体晶粒更为粗大,导致其屈服强度更低。     

The influence of microstructure on the tensile and fatigue behavior of SAE 6150 steel

The tensile and reverse-bending fatigue behaviors of the SAE 6150 steel in the dual-phase (DP), fully martensitic, and tempered states, respectively, have been investigated using mechanical tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX) microscopy, and optical microscopy. Residual stresses, inherent microcracks, and retained austenite films in the martensitic steel, quenched from 900 °C, lead to the development of inferior tensile and fatigue strength. Tempering at 700°C relieves the residual stresses associated with martensite, causes the precipitation of microalloy carbides (MACs), and thus results in superior strength, increased fatigue resistance, and moderate ductility. The DP microstructure, consisting of martensite islets in a ferrite matrix, gives rise to a combination of good strength, excellent ductility, and commendable fatigue characteristics. MAC in the tempered steel and martensite islands in the DP variant enhance fatigue performance by causing crack tip deflection and concomitant crack path tortuosity. Strain incompatibility between martensite and ferrite in the DP steel, and cementite films and ferrite in the tempered variant are identified as fatigue crack initiation sites.     

In situ neutron diffraction investigation of the collaborative deformation–transformation mechanism in TRIP-assisted steels at room and elevated temperatures

The deformation behaviour of two transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-assisted steels with slightly different microstructures due to different thermo-mechanically controlled processing (TMCP) was investigated by the in situ neutron diffraction technique during tensile straining at room temperature and two elevated (50 and 100 °C) temperatures. The essential feature of the TRIP deformation mechanism was found to be significant stress redistribution at the yield point. The applied tensile load is redistributed within the complex TRIP-steel microstructure in such a way that the retained austenite bears a significantly larger load than the ferrite–bainite α-matrix. The macroscopic yielding of the steel then takes place through the simultaneous cooperative activity of the austenite-to-martensite transformation in the austenite phase and plastic deformation in the α-matrix. It is concluded that, although its volume fraction is small, the martensitically transforming retained austenite phase dispersed within the α-matrix governs the plastic deformation of TRIP-assisted steels.     

一种高强韧性钢的纳米结构及其性能

以Cr—Mn—Si为主,添加其它微量元素和稀土元素,研制了一种新型的中碳低合金耐磨钢。试验结果表明,这种新型的低合金高强韧性耐磨钢,其铸态和锻态试样经淬火回火处理后均可得到回火马氏体及少量贝氏体、残留奥氏体及碳化物组织。铸态淬火回火处理的U型缺口试样的冲击韧度αk=37～55J／cm^2,无缺口试样的冲击韧度αk=210～300J／cm^2,其硬度为53～56HRC;锻后淬火回火处理的u型缺口试样的冲击韧度αk=48～70J／cm^2,其硬度为52～54HRC,抗拉强度叽=1850～2000MPa。采用高分辨电镜,对研制钢的纳米结构原子像进行了观察,确定了贝氏体铁素体亚片条的尺寸。     

Effect of annealing temperature on microstructural modification and tensile properties in 0.35 C–3.5 Mn–5.8 Al lightweight steel

The microstructural modifications occurring during annealing treatment of an Fe–0.35 C–3.5 Mn–5.8 Al ferrite-based lightweight steel and its effects on the tensile properties were investigated with respect to (α + γ) duplex microstructures. Steels annealed above the dissolution finishing temperature of κ-carbides (795 °C) were basically composed of ferrite band and austenite band in a layered structure. As the annealing temperature was increased the tensile strength increased, while the yield strength and elongation decreased. This could be explained by a decrease in the mechanical as well as thermal stability of austenite with increasing size and austenite volume fraction. In the 980 °C annealed steel in particular, whose mechanical stability due to austenite was lowest, cracks were readily formed at ferrite/austenite (or martensite) interfaces with little deformation, thereby leading to the least tensile elongation. In order to obtain the best combination of strength and ductility the formation of austenite having an appropriate mechanical stability was essentially needed, and could be achieved when 22–24 vol.% fine austenite was homogeneously distributed in the ferrite matrix, as in the 830 °C or 880 °C annealed steels.