Effect of phosphorus on the formation of retained austenite and mechanical properties in Si-containing low-carbon steel sheet

The effect of phosphorus and silicon on the formation of retained austenite has been investigated in a low-carbon steel cold rolled, intercritically annealed, and isothermally held in a temperature range of bainitic transformation followed by air cooling. The steel sheet containing phosphorus after final heat-treatment consisted of ferrite, retained austenite, and bainite or martensite. Phosphorus, especially in the presence of silicon, in steel was useful to assist the formation of retained austenite. Mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, uniform elongation, and the combination of tensile strength/ductility, were improved when phosphorus was increased up to 0.07 pct in 0.5 pct Si steel. This could be attributed to the strain-induced transformation of retained austenite during tensile deformation. Furthermore, two types of retained austenite were observed in P-containing steel. One is larger than about 1 μm in size and usually exists adjacent to bainite; the other one is of submicron size and usually exists in a ferrite matrix. High phosphorus content promotes the formation of stable (small size) austenites which are considered to be stabilized mainly by their small size effect and have a different formation mechanism from the coarser retained austenite in the lower P steels. The retained austenites of submicron size showed mechanical stability even after 10 pct deformation, suggesting that these small austenites have little effect on ductility. The 0.07 pct P-0.5 pct Si-1.5 pct Mn-0.12 pct C steel showed a high strength of 730 MPa and a total elongation of 36 pct.     

Mechanical Property and Microstructural Characterization of C-Mn-Al-Si Hot Dip Galvanizing TRIP Steel

 Mechanical properties and microstructure in high strength hot dip galvanizing TRIP steel were investigated by optical microscope (OM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry and mechanical testing. On the heat treatment process of different intercritical annealing (IA) temperatures, isothermal bainitic transformation (IBT) temperatures and IBT time, this steel shows excellent mechanical properties with tensile strength over 780 MPa and elongation more than 22%. IBT time is a crucial factor in determining the mechanical properties as it confirms the bainite transformation process, as well as the microstructure of the steel. The microstructure of the hot dip galvanizing TRIP steel consisted of ferrite, bainite, retained austenite and martensite during the short IBT time. The contents of ferrite, bainite, retained austenite and martensite with different IBT time were calculated. The results showed that when IBT time increased from 20 to 60 s, the volume of bainite increased from 14.31% to 16.95% and the volume of retained austenite increased from 13.64% to 16.28%; meanwhile, the volume of martensite decreased from 7.18% to 1.89%. Both the transformation induced plasticity of retained austenite and the hardening of martensite are effective, especially, the latter plays a dominant role in the steel containing 7.18% martensite which shows similar strength characteristics as dual-phase steel, but a better elongation. When martensite volume decreases to 1.89%, the steel shows typical mechanical properties of TRIP, as so small amount of martensite has no obvious effect on the mechanical properties.     

Mechanical Properties and Retained Austenite Transformation Mechanism of TRIP-Aided Polygonal Ferrite Matrix Seamless Steel Tube

 Through the comparison of microstructure for polygonal ferrite (PF) matrix transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) seamless steel tube at different positions before and after tensile rupture, the transformation behavior of retained austenite (RA) was studied. The results showed that there were no yield points in tensile process and the splendid elongation and tensile strength were contributed by the uniform ferrite/bainite grains and the transformation of RA. The stability of RA was to some extent in inverse proportion with the ability of transformation induced plasticity. The coarse retained austenite located in ferrite and ferrite/bainite laths were all transformed into martensite during the tensile process.     

不同工艺下低碳Mn-Si钢的组织与力学性能

通过Gleeble-1500热模拟压缩试验,借助光学显微镜、扫描电镜、X射线衍射及拉伸试验等,研究一种低碳Mn-Si钢在基于热轧动态相变的热轧TRIP钢工艺和基于贝氏体等温处理工艺下的组织与力学性能,比较了通过两种工艺获得的不同复相组织状态对材料的加工硬化能力的影响.结果表明:实验钢在基于动态相变的热轧TRIP钢工艺下获得了以细晶铁素体为基体和贝氏体、残余奥氏体组成的复相组织,而在基于贝氏体等温处理工艺下得到了以板条贝氏体为基体和残余奥氏体组成的复相组织,前者中残余奥氏体含量较高且其碳含量也较高.实验钢具有以板条贝氏体为基体的复相组织时屈服强度和抗拉强度较高;但由于残余奥氏体稳定性较差,实验钢的加工硬化能力较弱,导致其均匀延伸率和总延伸率较小.      

Tensile Behavior of Intercritically Annealed 10 pct Mn Multi-phase Steel

The exceptional elongation obtained during tensile testing of intercritically annealed 10 pct Mn steel, with a two phase ferrite–austenite microstructure at room temperature, was investigated. The austenite phase exhibited deformation-twinning and strain-induced transformation to martensite. These two plasticity-enhancing mechanisms occurred in succession, resulting in a high rate of work hardening and a total elongation of 65 pct for a tensile strength of 1443 MPa. A constitutive model for the tensile behavior of the 10 pct Mn steel was developed using the Kocks–Mecking hardening model.     

Continuously Cooled Ultrafine Bainitic Steel with Excellent Strength–Elongation Combination

Serious efforts have been made to simultaneously improve the strength and ductility of steels for different applications. However, steel with the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) above 1200 MPa with minimum elongation of 20 pct is still difficult to produce. In the current work, an effort has been made to design such a steel that could be directly produced in any hot strip mill, after accelerated cooling on the runout table followed by coiling. Basically this steel consisted of C, Mn, Si, and Cr and the intended final microstructure at room temperature was about 80 pct carbide-free bainite and 20 pct retained austenite. The steel was exposed to a thermal treatment which is generally experienced by a hot strip coil. This newly developed steel possesses an UTS of minimum ~1370 MPa with minimum ~21 pct elongation. The combination of such encouraging mechanical properties can be primarily attributed to the formation of ultrafine bainite plates (~100 to 130 nm) and a high density of dislocations arising out of the bainitic transformation. The presence of sufficient quantity of retained austenite (minimum 21 pct) in the final microstructure could be the reason for the attainment of outstanding ductility values at such a high strength level.     

相变时间对CSP热轧TRIP钢组织和性能的影响

利用OM、SEM、XRD、EBSD和室温拉伸试验机等研究了CSP热轧TRIP钢中间缓冷时间及贝氏体等温时间对组织和力学性能的影响。结果表明,随着中间缓冷时间的延长,试验钢中的铁素体和残余奥氏体体积分数增加,贝氏体体积分数减少;抗拉强度基本不变,屈服强度逐渐降低,断后伸长率和强塑积变化不明显。中间缓冷时间为6 s时,可满足CSP产线的要求。对贝氏体相变时间的研究表明,当等温时间为15 min时,试验钢中的残余奥氏体主要分布于铁素体/铁素体界面、铁素体/贝氏体界面以及贝氏体中,体积分数约为7.1%,表现出良好的TRIP效应。其抗拉强度、屈服强度、断后伸长率和强塑积分别达到744.0 MPa、522.5 MPa、29.3%和21.8 GPa·%,力学性能最优。当等温时间延长至50 min时,试验钢中的贝氏体含量增加,残余奥氏体体积分数减少至2.7%,强塑积明显下降。     

Tempering characteristics of a vanadium containing dual phase steel

Dual phase steels are characterized by a microstructure consisting of ferrite, martensite, retained austenite, and/or lower bainite. This microstructure can be altered by tempering with accompanying changes in mechanical properties. This paper examines such changes produced in a vanadium bearing dual phase steel upon tempering below 500 °C. The steel mechanical properties were minimally affected on tempering below 200 °C; however, a simultaneous reduction in uniform elongation and tensile strength occurred upon tempering above 400 °C. The large amount of retained austenite (≅10 vol pct) observed in the as-received steel was found to be essentially stable to tempering below 300 °C. On tempering above 400 °C, most of the retained austenite decomposed to either upper bainite (at 400 °C) or a mixture of upper bainite and ferrite-carbide aggregate formed by an interphase precipitation mechanism (at 500 °C). In addition, tempering at 400 °C led to fine precipitation in the retained ferrite. The observed mechanical properties were correlated with these microstructural changes. It was concluded that the observed decrease in uniform elongation upon tempering above 400 °C is primarily the consequence of the decomposition of retained austenite and the resulting loss of transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) as a contributing mechanism to the strain hardening of the steel. B. V. N. RAO, formerly Senior Research Engineer, Analytical Chemistry Department, General Motors Research Laboratories     

Effect of alloying elements on the microstructure‐property relationship in thermomechanically processed C‐Mn‐Si TRIP steels

The effect of additions of Nb, Al and Mo to Fe‐C‐Mn‐Si TRIP steel on the final microstructure and mechanical properties after simulated thermomechanical processing (TMP) has been studied. The laboratory simulations of discontinuous cooling during TMP were performed using a hot rolling mill. All samples were characterised using optical microscopy and image analysis. The volume fraction of retained austenite was ascertained using a heat tinting technique and X‐ray diffraction measurements. Room temperature mechanical properties were determined by a tensile test. From this a comprehensive understanding of the structural aspect of the bainite transformation in these types of TRIP steels has been developed. The results have shown that the final microstructures of thermomechanically processed TRIP steels comprise ~ 50 % of polygonal ferrite, 7 ‐12 % of retained austenite, non‐carbide bainitic structure and martensite. All steels exhibited a good combination of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation. The microstructure‐property examination revealed the relationship between the composition of TRIP steels and their mechanical properties. It has been shown that the addition of Mo to the C‐Si‐Mn‐Nb TRIP steel increases the ultimate tensile strength up to 1020 MPa. The stability of the retained austenite of the Nb‐Mo steel was degraded, which led to a decrease in the elongation (24 %). The results have demonstrated that the addition of Al to C‐Si‐Mn‐Nb steel leads to a good combination of strength (~ 940 MPa) and elongation (~ 30 %) due to the formation of refined acicular ferrite and granular bainite structure with ~7 ‐ 8 % of stable retained austenite. Furthermore, it has been found that the addition of Al increases the volume fraction of bainitic ferrite laths. The investigations have shown an interesting result that, in the Nb‐Mo‐Al steel, Al has a more pronounced effect on the microstructure in comparison with Mo. It has been found that the bainitic structure of the Nb‐Mo‐Al steel appears to be more granular than in the Nb‐Mo steel. Moreover, the volume fraction of the retained austenite increased (12 %) with decreasing bainitic ferrite content. The results have demonstrated that this steel has the best mechanical properties (1100 MPa and 28 % elongation). It has been concluded that the combined effect of Nb, Mo, and Al addition on the dispersion of the bainite, martensite and retained austenite in the ferrite matrix and the morphology of these phases is different than effect of Nb, Mo and Al, separately.     

A Novel Ni-Containing Powder Metallurgy Steel with Ultrahigh Impact,Fatigue, and Tensile Properties

The impact toughness of powder metallurgy (PM) steel is typically inferior, and it is further impaired when the microstructure is strengthened. To formulate a versatile PM steel with superior impact, fatigue, and tensile properties, the influences of various microstructures, including ferrite, pearlite, bainite, and Ni-rich areas, were identified. The correlations between impact toughness with other mechanical properties were also studied. The results demonstrated that ferrite provides more resistance to impact loading than Ni-rich martensite, followed by bainite and pearlite. However, Ni-rich martensite presents the highest transverse rupture strength (TRS), fatigue strength, tensile strength, and hardness, followed by bainite, pearlite, and ferrite. With 74 pct Ni-rich martensite and 14 pct bainite, Fe-3Cr-0.5Mo-4Ni-0.5C steel achieves the optimal combination of impact energy (39 J), TRS (2170 MPa), bending fatigue strength at 2 × 10⁶ cycles (770 MPa), tensile strength (1323 MPa), and apparent hardness (38 HRC). The impact energy of Fe-3Cr-0.5Mo-4Ni-0.5C steel is twice as high as those of the ordinary high-strength PM steels. These findings demonstrate that a high-strength PM steel with high-toughness can be produced by optimized alloy design and microstructure.     

Effect of Mn Addition on Microstructural Modification and Cracking Behavior of Ferritic Light-Weight Steels

In the present study, effects of Mn addition on cracking phenomenon occurring during cold rolling of ferritic light-weight steels were clarified in relation to microstructural modification involving κ-carbide, austenite, and martensite. Four steels were fabricated by varying Mn contents of 3 to 12 wt pct, and edge areas of steel sheets containing 6 to 9 wt pct Mn were cracked during the cold rolling. The steels were basically composed of ferrite and austenite in a band shape, but a considerable amount of κ-carbide or martensite existed in the steels containing 3 to 6 wt pct Mn. Microstructural observation of the deformed region of fractured tensile specimens revealed that cracks which were initiated at ferrite/martensite interfacial κ-carbides readily propagated along ferrite/martensite interfaces or into martensite areas in the steel containing 6 wt pct Mn, thereby leading to the center or edge cracking during the cold rolling. In the steel containing 9 wt pct Mn, edge cracks were found in the final stage of cold rolling because of the formation of martensite by the strain-induced austenite to martensite transformation, whereas they were hardly formed in the steel containing 12 wt pct Mn. To prevent or minimize the cracking, it was recommended that the formation of martensite during the cooling from the hot rolling temperature or during the cold rolling should be suppressed, which could be achieved by the enhancement of thermal or mechanical stability of austenite with decreasing austenite grain size or increasing contents of austenite stabilizers.     

Mechanical Behavior of Carbide-free Medium Carbon Bainitic Steels

The effect of bainitic transformation time on the microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated in a steel containing 0.4 pct C-2.8 pct Mn-1.8 pct Si. The microstructure was characterized using optical and transmission electron microscopy; it consisted of bainitic ferrite, martensite, and retained austenite. The volume fraction of bainite increased from 0.4 for the shortest bainitic transformation time (30 minutes) to 0.9 at the longest time (120 minutes). The above microstructures exhibited an extended elasto-plastic transition leading to very high initial work-hardening rates. The work-hardening behavior was investigated in detail using strain-path reversals to measure the back stresses. These measurements point to a substantial kinematic hardening due to the mechanical contrast between the microstructural constituents. The onset of necking coincided with the saturation of kinematic hardening. Examination of the fracture surfaces indicated that the prior austenite grain boundaries play an important role in the fracture process.     

Intercritically annealed and isothermally transformed 0.15 Pct C steels containing 1.2 Pct Si-1.5 Pct Mn and 4 Pct Ni: Part I. transformation,microstructure, and room-temperature mechanical properties

Steels containing 0.15 pct C and 1.2 pct Si-1.5 pct Mn or 4 pct Ni were intercritically annealed and isothermally transformed between 300 °C and 500 °C for 1 to 60 minutes. The specimens were subjected to tensile testing at room temperature, and the microstructures were evaluated by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM, respectively), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The microstructures consist of dispersed regions of bainite, martensite, and austenite in a matrix of ferrite, and a maximum of 11.6 pct austenite is retained after isothermal holding at 450 °C in the Si-Mn steel. In specimens where austenite transforms to martensite during quenching after isothermal holding, the stress-strain curves show continuous yielding, high ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and relatively low ductility. In specimens where higher volume fractions of austenite transform to bainite during isothermal holding, the stress-strain curves show discontinuous yielding, low UTS, and high ductility.     

Ductility and strain-induced transformation in a high-strength transformation-induced plasticity-aided dual-phase steel

The influence of forming temperature and strain rate on the ductility and strain-induced transformation behavior of retained austenite in a ferritic 0.4C-1.5Si-1.5Mn (wt pct) dual-phase steel containing fine retained austenite islands of about 15 vol pct has been investigated. Ex- cellent combinations of total elongations (TELs), about 48 pct, and tensile strength (TS), about 1000 MPa, were obtained at temperatures between 100 °C and 200 °C and at a strain rate of 2.8 X 10_-4/s. Under these optimum forming conditions, the flow curves were characterized by intensive serrations and increased strain-hardening rate over a large strain range. The retained austenite islands were mechanically the most stable at temperatures between 100 °C and 200 °C, and the retained austenite stability appeared to be mainly controlled by strain-induced martensite and bainite transformations (SIMT and SIBT, respectively), with deformation twinning occur- ring in the retained austenite. The enhanced TEL and forming temperature dependence of TEL were primarily connected with both the strain-induced transformation behavior and retained aus- tenite stability.     

基于退火路径的中锰钢组织转变与力学性能

为了更好地指导中锰钢工业试制,利用扫描电镜、电子背散射衍射、透射电镜和拉伸试验机等研究了不同退火路径下低碳中锰钢的组织转变及合金元素配分行为,并评价了其对力学性能的影响.结果表明,热轧中锰钢的显微组织主要由铁素体、板条马氏体、粒状贝氏体和残余奥氏体构成.经冷轧变形后,原组织中的铁素体和马氏体晶粒破碎,残余奥氏体和M/A...     

Multiphase microstructure and property of low carbon bainite/ferrite steel by quenching and carbon partitioning

The multiphase microstructure and properties of low carbon steel by IQ&PB process under different partitioning temperatures and time were studied by means of SEM, EPMA, XRD and tensile testing. Results show that the microstructures of experimental steel consist of ferrite, bainite and retained austenite. With the increase of the holding time in two- phase region, the C and Mn contents apparently increase in martensite which transformed from austenite, and C and Mn content are 1. 47 times and 1. 16 times than average value of the base. With the decrease of the quenching and partitioning temperature, the volume fraction of the bainite increases, the microstructure is refined, and the content of M/A islands increases. With the temperature and time increased, the volume fraction of retained austenite at room temperature increases, the tensile strength decreases, the total elongation increases, and work hardening behavior occurrs continuously. When the partitioning time is 30min and the partitioning temperature is 400??, the tensile strength of the steel is 1107MPa, the elongation is 24%, the product of strength and elongation reaches above 26568MPa??%.     

Impact of Si on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 22MnB5 Hot Stamping Steel Treated by Quenching & Partitioning (Q&P)

Based on 22MnB5 hot stamping steel, three model alloys containing 0.5, 0.8, and 1.5 wt pct Si were produced, heat treated by quenching and partitioning (Q&P), and characterized. Aided by DICTRA calculations, the thermal Q&P cycles were designed to fit into industrial hot stamping by keeping partitioning times ≤ 30 seconds. As expected, Si increased the amount of retained austenite (RA) stabilized after final cooling. However, for the intermediate Si alloy the heat treatment exerted a particularly pronounced influence with an RA content three times as high for the one-step process compared to the two-step process. It appeared that 0.8 wt pct Si sufficed to suppress direct cementite formation from within martensite laths but did not sufficiently stabilize carbon-soaked RA at higher temperatures. Tensile and bending tests showed strongly diverging effects of austenite on ductility. Total elongation improved consistently with increasing RA content independently from its carbon content. In contrast, the bending angle was not impacted by high-carbon RA but deteriorated almost linearly with the amount of low-carbon RA.     

Interrelations of cooling rate,microstructure, and mechanical properties in four HSLA steels

The present study was carried out on four steels containing 0.1 pct C-1.5 pct Mn-0.003 pct B* in common, with additions of 1 pct Cr, 0.5 pct Mo, 0.25 pct Mo + 1 pct Cr, 0.2 pct Ti + 1 pct Cr. They were designated, accordingly, as Cr, Mo, Mo-Cr, and Cr-Ti steels. All the steels exhibited a complete lath martensite microstructure with thin interlaths of retained austenite (≈0.05 pct) in the quenched condition. The normalized microstructures, granular bainite, contained massive areas of ferrite and granules of bainite laths. Both microconstituents contained a fine dispersion of cementite particles (size ≈50 Å) together with high dislocation densities. A mechanism explaining their for-mation has been given. The Cr steel, due to its low hardenability, showed in addition polygonal ferrite in the neighborhood of the so-called M-A constituent (twinned martensite and/or austenite). The annealed microstructure (using a cooling rate of 0.033 °C s^?1) of the Cr steel consisted of coarse ferrite-pearlite. Addition of 0.2 pct Ti to the Cr steel markedly refined the structure, whereas an addition of 0.25 pct Mo altered the microstructure to ferrite-lower bainite. In the 0.5 pct Mo steel, polygonal ferrite was found to be completely missing. The mechanical properties of the four steels after quenching, normalizing, and annealing were investigatedvia hardness and tensile test mea-surements. An empirical equation, relating the ultimate tensile strength to the steel composition, for steels that had granular bainite microstructures in the normalized condition, was proposed. The fracture surfaces exhibited cleavage and variable-size dimples depending on the microstructure and steel composition.     

预处理组织对低碳钢IQ&P工艺下组织及性能影响

采用γ单相区和γ+α双相区轧制并淬火工艺以及双相区再加热-淬火-碳配分(IQ&P)工艺,研究预处理组织对低碳钢室温状态多相组织特征及力学性能的影响规律.实验用低碳钢经两种工艺轧制并淬火处理,获得马氏体和马氏体+铁素体的预处理组织,再经双相区IQ&P工艺处理后均获得多相组织.马氏体预处理钢的室温组织由板条状亚温铁素体、块状回火马氏体以及一定比例的针状未回火马氏体和8.2%的针状残余奥氏体组成;马氏体+铁素体预处理钢由板条状亚温铁素体、块状和针状未回火马氏体以及14.3%的短针状或块状残余奥氏体组成.在相同的双相区IQ&P工艺参数下,预处理组织为马氏体的钢抗拉强度为770 MPa,伸长率为28%,其强塑积为21560 MPa·%;而预处理组织为马氏体+铁素体的钢抗拉强度为834 MPa,伸长率增大到36.2%,强塑积达到30190 MPa·%,获得强度与塑性的优良结合.      

30SiMnCrB5热成形钢的微观组织和力学性能

为了提高热成形钢的综合性能,设计了一种C-Si-Mn-Cr-B系热成形钢,采用热膨胀仪测定并研究了30SiMnCrB5热成形钢的连续冷却转变曲线和相变规律.分析了经轧制、退火及热成形模拟后钢板的微观组织形貌和力学性能,结合等密度线极图的方法,判定了热成形模拟后钢板中马氏体变体与母相的取向关系.30SiMnCrB5热成形钢具有较好的淬透性,临界冷速为5℃·s-1,有效抑制了珠光体和贝氏体的形成,完全马氏体组织的硬度可达600 HV以上.热成形模拟后的微观组织由板条马氏体和残余奥氏体构成,残余奥氏体主要以薄膜状分布在马氏体板条间,质量分数为6%~8%,抗拉强度为1800 Mpa左右,总伸长率可达10%以上,强度和塑性的匹配较好.热成形模拟后30SiMnCrB5热成形钢板中马氏体变体与母相的取向关系更接近N-W关系,12种变体没有都出现在原始奥氏体内.