Recent Progress on Non‐oriented Silicon Steel

Control of crystalline orientation and consequent enhancement of magnetic properties are important for decreasing core loss of non‐oriented silicon steel as well as grain‐oriented silicon steel. Through the development of special process techniques to produce clean refined steel, it is now possible to use any element to improve the crystalline texture control of steel without producing harmful effects. Utilization of these effects have actually lowered the core loss and raised the magnetic flux density of the products, and a product series of high‐efficiency non‐oriented silicon steel has been developed. Recently, demand has grown for non‐oriented silicon steel with particular properties, such as lower core loss at high frequencies or high strength, as high‐speed motors have progressed in regard to high efficiency and miniaturization. In response to this trend, non‐oriented thin gauge silicon steel with a thickness of 0.20 and 0.15mm and high strength non‐oriented thin gauge silicon steel with the same thickness but a yield strength of more than 570MPa and 780MPa have been developed.     

Microstructual Evolution of a Nb‐Microalloyed Advanced High Strength Steel Treated by Quenching‐Partitioning‐Tempering Process

The recently developed “quenching and partitioning” heat treatment and “quenching‐partitioning‐tempering” heat treatment are novel processing technologies, which are designed for achieving advanced high strength steels (AHSS) with combination of high strength and adequate ductility. Containing adequate amount of austenite phase is an important characteristic of the above steel, and the partitioning treatment is a key step in Q&P or Q‐P‐T process during which the austenite phase is enriched with carbon and achieves thermal stability. However, the microstructural evolution of the steel during the partitioning process is rather complicated. In present study, evolution of complex microstructure in a low carbon steel containing Nb during the Q‐P‐T process has been studied in detail. The microstructural evolution of the steel was investigated in terms of X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The experimental results show that the Nb‐microalloyed steel demonstrates a complex multiphase microstructure which consists of lath martensite with high dislocation density, retained austenite, alloy carbide, transition carbide, and a few twin martensite after the Q‐P‐T process. The experimental results can be helpful for the design of Q‐P‐T heat treatment and for the control of mechanical properties of Q‐P‐T steel.     

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of High‐Strength Fe‐Mn‐Al‐C Light‐Weight TRIPLEX Steels

High‐strength TRIPLEX light‐weight steels of the generic composition Fe‐xMn‐yAl‐zC contain 18 ‐ 28 % manganese, 9 ‐ 12 % aluminium, and 0.7 ‐ 1.2 % C (in mass %). The microstructure is composed of an austenitic γ‐Fe(Mn, Al, C) solid solution matrix possessing a fine dispersion of nano size κ‐carbides (Fe,Mn)₃ AlC_1‐x and α‐Fe(Al, Mn) ferrite of varying volume fractions. The calculated Gibbs free energy of the phase transformation γ_fcc → ?_hcp amounts to ΔG^γ→? = 1757 J/mol and the stacking fault energy was determined to Γ_SF = 110 mJ/m². This indicates that the austenite is very stable and no strain induced ?‐martensite will be formed. Mechanical twinning is almost inhibited during plastic deformation. The TRIPLEX steels exhibit low density of 6.5 to 7 g/cm³ and superior mechanical properties, such as high strength of 700 to 1100 MPa and total elongations up to 60 % and more. The specific energy absorption achieved at high strain rates of 10³ s^?1 is about 0.43 J/mm³. TEM investigations revealed clearly that homogeneous shear band formation accompanied by dislocation glide occurred in deformed tensile samples. The dominant deformation mechanism of these steels is shear band induced plasticity ‐SIP effect‐ sustained by the uniform arrangement of nano size κ‐carbides coherent to the austenitic matrix. The high flow stresses and tensile strengths are caused by effective solid solution hardening and superimposed dispersion strengthening.     

Pickling of Process‐Oxidised Austenitic Stainless Steels in HNO3‐HF Mixed Acid

Oxide formation during production annealing and the subsequent pickling response in mixed acid have been studied. The aims were to characterise the oxides formed and to understand how the pickling mechanism and kinetics are affected by the nature of the oxide. Totally, eight different versions of the austenitic stainless steel grades AISI 301, 304L and 309L were studied, all annealed in production lines. Cold rolled oxides (formed during annealing) are thin (< 1 µm), dense and formed in a multilayered manner. Hot rolled oxides (formed during reheating, hot rolling and annealing) are thicker (>1 µm) and more heterogeneous in thickness and composition. The dissolution rate of the chromium depleted layer (CDL) under the oxide is the most important factor for the overall pickling rate. The permeability of acid through the oxide and the tendency of the oxide to spall are also important factors affecting the pickling kinetics. The dense oxide formed on cold rolled materials can to some extent hinder the acid to reach the CDL. The oxides on hot rolled materials are porous and do not provide such a barrier but they are thicker and thereby more difficult to remove. Shot‐blasting prior to pickling of the hot rolled materials improves the pickling performance because it thins the oxide, improves the permeability and increases the tendency of the oxide to spall during the pickling step.     

Characteristics of Alumina‐Based Inclusions in Low Carbon Al‐Killed Steel under No‐Stirring Condition

Alumina‐based inclusions have a detrimental effect on castability and the surface quality of the LCAK steel sheet, thus they are expected to be removed from the steel. In order to get the detailed transient characteristics of inclusion aggregation and removal after Al addition, laboratory experiments were performed to study the formation of alumina inclusions during Al‐killed process of low carbon steel at 1873 K under no‐stirring condition. The characteristics of the alumina‐based inclusions in terms of amount, size, and morphology were investigated. The results showed that the evolution of the AF (area fraction) and average size of Al₂O₃ inclusions after deoxidation was divided into three stages: 0–9 min, aggregation was dominant; 9–22 min, floating was dominant; after 22 min, both the AF and size decreased slowly. Accordingly, the stirring was suggested to be strengthened in the initial 9 min under stirring condition to promote the removal of large inclusions. Based on the correlation between inclusion morphology and holding time, a simple precipitation and growth mechanism of alumina inclusions was proposed, which consisted of three main stages: precipitation stage of Al₂O₃ single particles, aggregation stage, and sintering stage of aggregated inclusions. And it was implied that the Ostwald‐Ripening can be finished up within 20 min.     

Effects of Niobium Addition on Microstructures and Formability in Si‐Al‐Mn TRIP Cold‐rolled Steels

The effects of Nb addition on microstructures and formability in Si‐Al‐Mn TRIP cold‐rolled steels were investigated. These steels were intercritical annealed at 770 °C for 5 min, and isothermally treated at 400 °C for 3 min. Microstructural observation, tensile tests and forming limit diagram (FLD) tests were conducted, and the changes of retained austenite volume fraction as a function of tensile strain were measured by using an X‐ray diffractometer. The results showed that Nb addition makes grain size refined, the volume fraction of ferrite increase and that of bainite decrease, however, obviously it does not affect the volume fraction and carbon content of retained austenite. The Nb addition increased the stability of retained austenite owing to grain refinement. With Nb addition, increase in strength, ductility, strain hardening exponent and formability could be achieved simultaneously. These findings indicate that Nb addition can be a new direction of microalloying design for the low carbon TRIP steels with excellent formability and high stability of retained austenite.     

Effect of Bake‐Hardening on the Structure‐Property Relationship of Multiphase Steels for the Automotive Industry

The effect of a bake‐hardening (BH) treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties has been studied in C‐Mn‐Si TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) and Dual Phase (DP) steels after: (i) thermomechanical processing (TMP) and (ii) intercritical annealing (IA). The steels were characterized using X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and three‐dimensional atom probe tomography (APT). All steels showed high BH response. However, the DP and TRIP steels after IA/BH showed the appearance of upper and lower yield points, while the stress‐strain behavior of the TRIP steel after TMP/BH was still continuous. This was due to the higher volume fraction of bainite and more stable retained austenite in the TMP/BH steel, the formation of plastic deformation zones with high dislocation density around the “as‐quenched” martensite and “TRIP” martensite in the IA/BH DP steel and IA/BH TRIP steel, respectively.     

Galvannealing of (High‐)Manganese‐Alloyed TRIP‐ and X‐IP®‐Steel

In this study the influence of Mn on galvannealed coatings of 1.7% Mn‐1.5% Al TRIP‐ and 23% Mn X‐IP®‐steels was investigated. It is shown that the external selective oxides like Mn, Al and Si of the TRIP steel which occur after annealing at 800 °C for 60 s at a dew point (DP) of ‐25 °C (5% H₂) hamper the Fe/Zn‐reaction during subsequent galvannealing. Preoxidation was beneficially utilized to increase the surface‐reactivity of the TRIP steel under the same dew point conditions. The influence of Mn on the steel alloy was investigated by using a 23% Mn containing X‐IP®‐steel which was bright annealed at 1100 °C for 60 s at DP ‐50 °C (5% H₂) to obtain a mainly oxide free surface prior to hot dip galvanizing (hdg) and subsequent galvannealing. As well known from the literature Mn alloyed to the liquid zinc melt stabilizes δ‐phase at lower temperatures by participating in the Fe‐Zn‐phase reactions, it was expected that the metallic Mn of the X‐IP®‐steel increases the Fe/Zn‐reactivity in the same manner. The approximation of the effective diffusion coefficient (D_eff(Fe)) during galvannealing was found to be higher than compared to a low alloyed steel reference. Contrary to the expectation no increased Fe/Zn‐reaction was found by microscopic investigations. Residual η‐ and ζ‐phase fractions prove a hampered Fe/Zn‐reaction. As explanation for the observed hampered Fe/Zn‐reaction the lower Fe‐content of the high‐Mn‐alloyed X‐IP®‐steel was suggested as the dominating factor for galvannealing.     

The Effect of Hot‐ and Cold‐Rolling on the Electropulse‐Induced Microstructure and Property Changes in Medium Carbon Low Alloy Steels

The application of electropulse to hot‐rolled and cold‐rolled, medium carbon low alloy steels has generated completely different effects. For cold‐rolled steel samples, electropulsing treatment causes microstructure refinement and, hence, increments in tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation. For hot‐rolled steels, the effect of electropulsing is found to be negligible. This proves the importance of dislocations in the micromechanism of electropulse‐induced microstructure transformation in solids. The optimal electropulse parameters for the improvement of cold‐rolled steels are observed. The experimental observations are explained within the frameworks of thermodynamics and kinetics of microstructure transformation.     

Stress‐Temperature‐Transformation and Deformation‐Temperature‐Transformation Diagrams for an Austenitic CrMnNi as‐cast Steel

Stress‐Temperature‐Transformation (STT) and Deformation‐Temperature‐Transformation (DTT) diagrams are well‐suited to characterize the TRIP (transformation‐induced plasticity) and TWIP (twinning‐induced plasticity) effect in steels. The triggering stresses for the deformation‐induced microstructure transformation processes, the characteristic temperatures, the yield stress and the strength of the steel are plotted in the STT diagram as functions of temperature. The elongation values of the austenite, the strain‐induced twins and martensite formations are shown in the DTT diagram. The microstructure evolution of a novel austenitic Cr‐Mn‐Ni (16%Cr, 6% Mn, 6% Ni) as‐cast steel during deformation was investigated at various temperatures using static tensile tests, optical microscopy and the magnetic scale for the detection of ferromagnetic phase fraction. At the temperatures above 250 °C the steel only deforms by glide deformation of the austenite. Strain‐induced twinning replaces the glide deformation at temperatures below 250 °C with increasing strain. Below 100 °C, the strain‐induced martensite formation becomes more pronounced. The kinetics of the α'‐martensite formation is described according to stress and deformation temperatures. The STT and DTT diagrams, enhanced with the kinetics of the martensite formation, are presented in this paper.     

Activity of VO1.5 in CaO‐SiO2‐MgO‐Al2O3 Slags at Low Vanadium Contents and Low Oxygen Pressures

In the present work, the gas‐slag equilibration technique was employed for the measurement of the thermodynamic activity of vanadium oxide. The vanadium‐containing slag kept in a platinum crucible was equilibrated with a gas mixture of CO, CO₂ and Ar, with well‐defined oxygen partial pressure at a pre‐determined temperature. The slag sample was quenched and the composition of the final slag was determined by chemical analysis. From the value of the oxygen partial pressure, the thermodynamic activity of VO_1.5 could be calculated using the value for the activity of vanadium in V‐Pt alloy. The measurements were carried out in the temperature range 1823～1923K and the oxygen partial pressures employed were 10^‐3, 10^‐4, 10^‐5 Pa. The present results show that the activity of vanadium(III) oxide in slag exhibits a negative deviation from ideality in the present composition range. With increasing basicity of the slag, the final content of vanadium oxide in the slag was found to show an initial increase followed by a constant content. The activities of vanadium(III) oxide did not exhibit any significant change with increasing temperature. The activity coefficient of vanadium(III) oxide decreased sharply with slag basicity approximately up to a basicity of 1, beyond which it showed a near–constant value. Increase in basicity was found to cause a change in the distribution of vanadium between the slag and the alloy phases even though this effect was less pronounced. From the present results, a mathematical relationship for estimating the vanadium content in slag for a given activity of vanadium in the molten metal phase was developed.     

Formation Free Energies of Solid Solution between Tri‐Calcium Phosphate and Di‐Calcium Silicate

In order to determine the free energy changes for the reaction molten copper containing phosphorus was brought into equilibrium with mixtures of tri‐calcium silicate + di‐calcium silicate + solid solution between tri‐calcium phosphate and di‐calcium silicate in a stream of Ar + H₂ + H₂O gas mixture at temperatures between 1548 and 1598 K, and the results are expressed as