Hot tensile deformation behaviors and constitutive model of 42CrMo steel

The hot tensile deformation behaviors of 42CrMo steel are studied by uniaxial tensile tests with the temperature range of 850–1100 °C and strain rate range of 0.1–0.0001 s⁻¹. The effects of hot forming process parameters (strain rate and deformation temperature) on the elongation to fracture, strain rate sensitivity and fracture characteristics are analyzed. The constitutive equation is established to predict the peak stress under elevated temperatures. It is found that the flow stress firstly increases to a peak value and then decreases, showing a dynamic flow softening. This is mainly attributed to the dynamic recrystallization and material damage during the hot tensile deformation. The deformation temperature corresponding to the maximum elongation to fracture increases with the increase of strain rate within the studied strain rate range. Under the strain rate range of 0.1–0.001 s⁻¹, the localized necking causes the final fracture of specimens. While when the strain rate is 0.0001 s⁻¹, the gage segment of specimens maintains the uniform macroscopic deformation. The damage degree induced by cavities becomes more and more serious with the increase of the deformation temperature. Additionally, the peak stresses predicted by the proposed model well agree with the measured results.     

Constitutive analysis to predict high temperature flow stress in 20CrMo continuous casting billet

The experimental true strain–true stress data from isothermal hot compression tests on a Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation machine, across a wide range of temperatures (1173–1373 K) and strain rates (1.5 × 10⁻³–1.5 × 10⁻² s⁻¹), were employed to study the deformation behavior and develop constitutive equations of 20CrMo alloy continuous casting billet steel. The objective was to obtain the relational expression for deformation activation energy and material constants as a function of true strain and the constitutive equation for high temperature deformation of 20CrMo based on the hyperbolic sine form model. A correlation coefficient of 0.988 and an average absolute relative error between the experimental and the calculated flow stress of 8.40% have been obtained. This indicates that the constitutive equations can be used to accurately predict the flow behavior of 20CrMo alloy steel continuous casting billet during high temperature deformation.     

Hot deformation behavior of the new Al–Mg–Si–Cu aluminum alloy during compression at elevated temperatures

The hot deformation behavior of the new Al–Mg–Si–Cu aluminum alloy was investigated by compression tests in the temperature range 350 °C–550 °C and strain rate range 0.005 s^− 1–5 s^− 1 using Gleeble-1500 system, and the associated structural changes were studied by observations of metallographic and TEM. The results show that the true stress–true strain curves exhibit a peak stress at a small strain (< 0.15), after which the flow stresses decrease monotonically until high strains, showing a dynamic flow softening. The stress level decreases with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate, which can be represented by a Zener-Hollomon parameter in an exponent-type equation with the hot deformation activation energy Q of 236 kJ/mol. The substructure in the deformed specimens consists of very small amount and fine precipitates with equaixed polygonized subgrains in the elongated grains and developed serrations in the grain boundaries, indicating that the dynamic flow softening is mainly as the result of dynamic recovery (DR) and recrystallization (RDX).     

The flow behavior and constitutive equation in isothermal compression of FGH4096-GH4133B dual alloy

The electron beam welding of superalloy FGH4096 and GH4133B was conducted, and the cylindrical compression specimens were machined from the central part of the electron beam weldments. Isothermal compression tests were carried out on electron beam weldments FGH4096-GH4133B alloy at the temperatures of 1020–11140 °C (the nominal γ′-transus temperature is about 1080 °C) and the strain rates of 0.001–1.0 s⁻¹ with the height reduction of 50%. True stress–true strain curves are sensitive to the deformation temperature and strain rate, and the flow stress decreases with the increasing deformation temperature and the decreasing strain rate. The true stress–true strain curves can indicate the intrinsic relationship between the flow stress and the thermal-dynamic behavior. The apparent activation energy of deformation at the strain of 0.6 was calculated to be 550 kJ/mol, and the apparent activation energy has a great effect on the microstructure. The constitutive equation that describes the flow stress as a function of strain rate and deformation temperature was proposed for modeling the hot deformation process of FGH4096-GH4133B electron beam weldments. The constitutive equation at the strain of 0.6 was established using the hyperbolic law. The relationship between the strain and the values of parameters was studied, and the cubic functions were built. The constitutive equation during the whole process can be obtained based on the parameters under different strains. Comparing the experimental flow stress and the calculated flow stress, the constitutive equation obtained in this paper can be very good to predict the flow stress under the deformation temperature range of 1020–1140 °C and the strain rate range of 1.0–0.001 s⁻¹.     

Effect of Nb and C on the hot flow behavior of Nb microalloyed steels

The compressive deformation behaviors of a C–Mn steel (0.36C–1.42Mn) and two Nb microalloyed steels (0.35C–1.41Mn–0.044Nb and 0.055C–1.42Mn–0.036Nb) were investigated at the temperatures from 900 °C to 1100 °C and strain rates from 0.005 s⁻¹ to 10 s⁻¹ on Gleeble-1500 thermo-mechanical simulator. It was found that the flow stress of the C–Mn steel is the lowest among the experimental steels, indicating that Nb microalloying in HSLA steels can effectively increase the hot deformation flow stress, and the 0.055C–1.42Mn–0.036Nb steel has a higher flow stress than that of the 0.35C–1.41Mn–0.044Nb steel, indicating that C addition generates a softening effect. The flow stress constitutive equations of hot deformation were developed for the experimental steels, the activation energy Q about 360 kJ/mol for the 0.055C–1.42Mn–0.036Nb steel was higher than that for the 0.35C–1.41Mn–0.044Nb steel (347 kJ/mol) and the C–Mn steel (278 kJ/mol). Characteristic points of flow stress for the three steels were analyzed. The results showed that Nb addition can effectively increase the peak strain and the steady state strain of steels, thus delay distinctly the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization, while C addition can reduce the peak strain and the steady state strain of Nb microalloyed steels, thus promote the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization.     

Hot deformation and processing map of an as-extruded Mg–Zn–Mn–Y alloy containing I and W phases

The hot deformation characteristics of an as-extruded ZM31 (Mg–Zn–Mn) magnesium alloy with an addition of 3.2 wt.% Y, namely ZM31 + 3.2Y, have been studied via isothermal compression testing in a temperature range of 300–400 °C and a strain rate range of 0.001–1 s^− 1. A constitutive model based on hyperbolic-sine equation along with processing maps was used to describe the dependence of flow stress on the strain, strain rate, and deformation temperature. The flow stress was observed to decrease with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. The deformation activation energy of this alloy was obtained to be 241 kJ/mol. The processing maps at true strains of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 were generated to determine the region of hot workability of the alloy, with the optimum hot working parameters being identified as deformation temperatures of 340–500 °C and strain rates of 0.001–0.03 s^− 1. EBSD examinations revealed that the dynamic recrystallization occurred more extensively and the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization increased with increasing deformation temperature. The role of element Y and second-phase particles (I- and W-phases) during hot compressive deformation was discussed.     

Hot deformation behavior of 7150 aluminum alloy during compression at elevated temperature

Hot compression tests of 7150 aluminum alloy were preformed on Gleeble-1500 system in the temperature range from 300 °C to 450 °C and at strain rate range from 0.01 s^? 1 to 10 s^? 1, and the associated structural changes were studied by observations of metallographic and transmission electron microscope. The results show that the true stress–true strain curves exhibit a peak stress at a critical strain, after which the flow stresses decrease monotonically until high strains, showing a dynamic flow softening. The peak stress level decreases with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate, which can be represented by a Zener–Hollomon parameter in the hyperbolic-sine equation with the hot deformation activation energy of 229.75 kJ/mol. In the deformed structures appear the elongated grains with serrations developed in the grain boundaries, decreasing of Z value leads to more adequate proceeding of dynamic recrystallization and coarser recrystallized grains. The subgrains exhibit high-angle sub-boundaries with a certain amount of dislocations and large numbers of dynamic precipitates in subgrain interiors as increasing Z value. The dynamic recovery and recrystallization are the main reasons for the flow softening at low Z value, but the dynamic precipitates and successive dynamic particles coarsening have been assumed to be responsible for the flow softening at high Z value.     

A characterization for the flow behavior of 42CrMo steel

In order to evaluate the flow stress and the dynamic softening characteristics of casting 42CrMo steel, isothermal upsetting experiments with height reduction 60% were performed at the temperatures of 1123 K, 1198 K, 1273 K and 1348 K, and the strain rates of 0.01 s⁻¹, 0.1 s⁻¹, 1 s⁻¹ and 10 s⁻¹ on thermal physics simulator Gleeble 1500. The flow behavior of the applied stress as a function of strain, strain rate and temperature exhibits a more pronounced effect of temperature than strain rate, and a typical characteristic of dynamic recrystallization softening. To characterize the flow behavior more factually and accurately, the traditional Fields–Backofen equation was amended, and an innovative mathematical model containing a softening item s, n-value and m-value variable functions was brought forth. The stress–strain curves calculated by the derived flow stress equation are fit with the experimental results well not only at the hardening stage but also at softening stage.     

Dynamic recrystallization behavior of an as-cast TiAl alloy during hot compression

High temperature compressive deformation behaviors of as-cast Ti–43Al–4Nb–1.4W–0.6B alloy were investigated at temperatures ranging from 1050 °C to 1200 °C, and strain rates from 0.001 s^− 1 to 1 s^− 1. Electron back scattered diffraction technique, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were employed to investigate the microstructural evolutions and nucleation mechanisms of the dynamic recrystallization. The results indicated that the true stress–true strain curves show a dynamic flow softening behavior. The dependence of the peak stress on the deformation temperature and the strain rate can well be expressed by a hyperbolic-sine type equation. The activation energy decreases with increasing the strain. The size of the dynamically recrystallized β grains decreases with increasing the value of the Zener–Hollomon parameter (Z). When the flow stress reaches a steady state, the size of β grains almost remains constant with increasing the deformation strain. The continuous dynamic recrystallization plays a dominant role in the deformation. In order to characterize the evolution of dynamic recrystallization volume fraction, the dynamic recrystallization kinetics was studied by Avrami-type equation. Besides, the role of β phase and the softening mechanism during the hot deformation was also discussed in details.     

Constitutive analysis of the hot deformation behavior of Fe–23Mn–2Al–0.2C twinning induced plasticity steel in consideration of strain

In this study, constitutive analysis has been carried out on Fe–23Mn–2Al–0.2C twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steel. For this purpose, hot compression tests were conducted on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator in the temperature range of 900–1150 °C and the strain rate range of 0.001–20 s⁻¹. The effects of deformation heating and friction on flow stress were analyzed and corrected. On the basis of Sellars–Tegart–Garofalo equation, the strain-dependent constitutive equations of the steel were derived. The results show that deformation heating has a significant influence on the flow stress at lower temperatures and higher strain rates, while the frictional effect is slight even at the highest strain level investigated. Comparison of the calculated flow stress with the experimental data suggests that the developed constitutive equations can adequately describe the relationships between the flow stress, strain rate, temperature and strain of the steel during hot deformation. This is supported by a high correlation coefficient (R = 0.996) and a low average absolute relative error (AARE = 3.31%) for the entire deformation condition range investigated.     

Research on the dynamic recrystallization behavior of GCr15 steel

The dynamical recrystallization (DRX) of GCr15 steel was investigated at deformation temperatures of 950–1150 °C and strain rates of 0.1–10 s^?1 on a Gleeble-3800 thermo-mechanical simulator. The stress–strain curves at lower strain rates are typical of the occurrence of DRX and exhibit a peak in the flow stress before reaching steady state. The flow stress at higher strain rates increases rapidly to the maximum too, but followed by a steady region. The microstructures after deformation certify that DRX takes place in all specimens. And the results show that DRX occurs more easily with the decrease of strain rate and the increase of deformation temperature. Using regression analysis, the DRX activation energy of the steel, the relationship of critical strain and deformation conditions were determined. In order to determine the recrystallized fraction under different conditions, an approximate model based on the stress–strain curves was investigated, and the kinetic model for DRX was established.     

Study on hot deformation characteristics of 12%Cr ultra-super-critical rotor steel using processing maps and Zener–Hollomon parameter

The hot deformation behavior of a 12%Cr ultra-super-critical rotor steel was investigated in the temperature range of 900–1200 °C and strain rate range of 0.01–10 s^? 1. The processing maps of the material were derived by using dynamic materials model and Prasad instability criterion. The deformation mechanisms of different regions in the processing maps and corresponding microstructures were discussed in combination of the change in Zener–Hollomon parameter. The results showed that for 12%Cr ultra-super-critical rotor steel, the flow stress, microstructural evolution and efficiency of power dissipation are closely related to the Zener–Hollomon parameter. The lower the Zener–Hollomon parameter is, the larger the extent of flow softening becomes, the more easily the dynamic recrystallization may occur, and the bigger the dynamic recrystallization grain size is. Moreover, the higher the Zener–Hollomon parameter, the lower the power dissipation rate. Flow instability occurring under high Zener–Hollomon parameter is manifested as flow localization. During the hot tension at 1 s^? 1, the thermoplasticity of 12%Cr ultra-super-critical rotor steel is the worst at 950 °C.     

Constitutive modeling for flow behavior of GCr15 steel under hot compression experiments

The thermal compressive deformation behavior of GCr15 (AISI-52100), one of the most commonly used bearing steels, was studied on the Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation system at temperature range of 950–1150 °C and strain rate range of 0.1–10 s⁻¹. According to the experimental results, the stress level decreases with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. The peak stresses on the true stress–strain curves suggest that the dynamic softening of GCr15 steel occurs during hot compression tests. To formulate the thermoplastic constitutive equation of GCr15 steel, Arrhenius equation and the Zener–Hollomon parameter in an exponent-type equation were utilized in this paper. In addition, a modified Zener–Hollomon parameter considering the compensation of strain rate during hot compression was employed to improve the prediction accuracy of the developed constitutive equation. Analysis results indicate that the flow stress values predicted by the proposed constitutive model agree well with the experimental values, which confirms the accuracy and reliability of the developed constitutive equation of GCr15 steel.     

Characterization of hot deformation behavior of a new Ni–Cr–Co based P/M superalloy

The hot deformation behavior of a new Ni–Cr–Co based P/M superalloy was studied in the temperature range of 950–1150 °C and strain rate range of 0.0003–1 s^? 1 using hot compression tests. It was characterized by true stress–true strain curves, constitutive equation, strain rate sensitivity m contour maps, power dissipation η maps and hot processing maps. The microstructural validation of processing maps was also done. The results show that the flow stress decreases with increasing temperature and decreasing strain rate. The hot deformation apparent activation energy of the Ni–Cr–Co based P/M superalloy at peak stress is 805 kJ/mol. The m and η contour maps are similar, and the values of m and η in the peak zones increase with increasing strain. When the strain is 0.5, a domain with its peak η of 40% and peak m of 25% occurs at 1050 °C and 0.0003 s^? 1, which corresponds to dynamic recrystallization and can be as an optimum condition for good workability.     

Effects of initial grain size on hot deformation behavior of commercial pure aluminum

The effects of initial grain size of commercial pure aluminum on hot deformation behavior were investigated using hot compression tests. The hot compression tests were carried out on the pure aluminum samples with the initial grain sizes of 50, 150 and 450 μm using various strains, strain rates and different deformation temperatures. It was found that the hot deformation behavior of used material was sensitive to deformation conditions and initial microstructure. Results indicate that the initial grain size has significant effect on the flow stress. Flow stress decreases when the grain size decreases from 450 to 50 μm and when strain rate is lower than 0.05 s⁻¹. This procedure is reversed at strain rate of 0.5 s⁻¹. Furthermore, effects of other parameters like the strain rates and deformation temperatures on the flow stresses and hardening rates were investigated. It was also found that the inhomogeneity of microstructure distribution at different positions of the deformed specimens depended on the amount of deformation concentration at particular points and other processing parameters such as initial grain sizes, strain rates and deformation temperatures. In addition the geometric dynamic recrystallization (GDRX) was observed in the specimens highly strained (0.7) at elevated temperature (500 °C) using polarized light microscope and sensitive tint (PLM + ST).     

Temperature dependent work hardening in Ti–6Al–4V alloy over large temperature and strain rate ranges: Experiments and constitutive modeling

The plastic deformation behaviors of Ti–6Al–4V alloy over wide ranges of strain rate (from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁴ s⁻¹) and temperature (from 20 to 900 °C) are investigated by the quasi-static and dynamic uniaxial compression tests. The microstructure evolution of Ti–6Al–4V alloy at different temperatures is discussed. Material generates higher ductility and formability when temperature is higher than 500 °C, which leads to the decrease of work hardening rate. The true stress–strain responses are modeled with the JC, modified JC, KHL and modified KHL models. In detail, a temperature dependent work hardening function is introduced into the original JC and KHL models. The parameters of the four models for Ti–6Al–4V alloy are calculated by GA optimization method. The average standard deviations between the experimental and calculated flow stresses range from 4% to 13%, which validates the accuracy of the models. In addition, comparison of flow stresses at dynamic (10,000 s⁻¹), the work hardening rates at dynamic (7500 s⁻¹), as well as the quasi-static jump experiments were proposed to further validate the models. The modified JC and modified KHL models could characterize the temperature dependent work hardening effect for Ti–6Al–4V alloy over large strain rate and temperature ranges.     

Hot workability of 00Cr13Ni5Mo2 supermartensitic stainless steel

The hot workability of 00Cr13Ni5Mo2 supermartensitic stainless steel was investigated by hot compression and hot tension tests conducted over the temperature range of 950–1200 °C and strain rates varying between 0.1 and 50 s^?1. The processing map technique was applied on the basis of dynamic materials model and Prasad instability criterion. Microstructure evolutions, Zener–Hollomon parameter as well as hot tensile ductility were examined. The results show that, as for the hot working of 00Cr13Ni5Mo2 supermartensitic stainless steel in the industrial production, the large strain deformation should be carried out in the temperature range 1140–1200 °C and strain rate range 0.1–50 s^?1, where the corresponding Zener–Hollomon parameters exhibit low values. Moreover, when deformed under high strain rate range (above 15 s^?1), the deformation temperature can be reduced reasonably.     

Optimization of hot working parameters for thermo-mechanical processing of modified 9Cr–1Mo (P91) steel employing dynamic materials model

Intrinsic workability of modified 9Cr–1Mo steel has been studied in a wide range of temperatures (1123–1373 K) and strain rates (0.001–10 s^?1). Using the experimental data obtained from isothermal hot compression tests, processing map at 0.5 true strain has been developed employing dynamic material model (DMM) approach. The activation energy map has been developed to substantiate the results obtained from processing map and to finalize the optimum processing parameters. Microstructural studies have been carried out to validate the domains of the processing map. The material shows localized deformation bands in the temperature range of 1150–1373 K at strain rates above 1 s^?1 and exhibits abnormally elongated martensite laths at higher temperature (1373 K) and lower strain rates (0.001–0.01 s^?1). The optimum domain for the hot deformation is found to be in the temperature ranges of 1250–1350 K and strain rate ranges 0.015–0.3 s^?1 with a peak efficiency of 38%. In this domain, apparent activation energy is found to be 400 kJ/mol. The microstructure of the specimens deformed in this region exhibits defect free equiaxed grains.     

Hot deformation and processing maps of X-750 nickel-based superalloy

The deformation behavior of X-750 superalloy was investigated using the hot compression test in the temperature range of 850–1050 °C, and strain rate of 0.1–50 s⁻¹. The experimental results show that the flow stress of superalloy is significantly sensitive to the strain, the strain rate and the deformation temperature. Using dynamic materials model the processing maps of X-750 superalloy at strain of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 were established respectively. Microstructure observations reveal that the grain size as well as the volume fraction of the recrystallized grains increased at higher deformation temperature or lower strain rate. At strain of 0.5, the flow instability domain mainly located at lower temperature which is associated with shear band formation and flow localization. The optimum parameters for hot working of the alloy are deformation temperature of 1000–1050 °C and strain rate of 0.1–1 s⁻¹ according to the processing map and microstructure at true strain of 0.5.     

Hot deformation behavior of a Nb-containing 316LN stainless steel

A Nb-containing 316LN stainless steel was compressed in the temperature range 900–1200 °C and strain rate range 0.01–10 s^?1. The mechanical behavior has been characterized using stress–strain curve analysis, kinetic analysis, processing maps, etc. The microstructural evolution was observed and the mechanism of flow instability was discussed. It was found that the work hardening rate and flow stress decreased with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. On the contrary, the efficiency of power dissipation increased with them; Flow instability was manifested as cracking and flow localization; The hot deformation equation and the relationships between deformation condition and dynamic recrystallization grain size and fraction were obtained; For Nb-containing 316LN stainless steel, the favorite nucleation sites for dynamic recrystallization are in sequence of triple point, grain boundary, twin boundary and intragranular deformation band; The suggested processing window is given.