Effect of water quench process on mechanical properties of cold rolled dual phase steel microalloyed with niobium

Effect of water quench process on tensile properties of microalloyed dual phase (DP) steel was investigated. The results showed that the tensile strength and yield strength decrease while total elongation increases with decreasing quenching temperature. Different quenching temperatures lead to not only different amounts of martensite, but also different volume fractions of new ferrite. Due to exemption of precipitation strengthening, new ferrite will contribute to not only the increase of ductility, but also the improvement of microalloyed DP steel strength.