Laboratory Investigations on Copper‐alloyed Interstitial Free Steel – Part III: Ageing Behaviour

An attempt has been made in this investigation to develop high strength interstitial free steel with about 463 MPa yield strength and 577 MPa tensile strength by adopting a new approach. The concept lies in the addition of 1.18 wt.% copper to conventional interstitial free steels and employing a post annealing ageing treatment to achieve copper precipitation hardening. Ageing response has been studied under various processing conditions. Advantages, drawbacks and possible scheme of application of this new steel have been addressed.     

Laboratory Investigations on Copper‐alloyed Interstitial Free Steel – Part II: Effect of Coiling Temperature

The effect of coiling temperature on the annealing behaviour of copper‐alloyed interstitial free steel has been studied during batch and continuous annealing. The batch annealing kinetics undergoes a severe sluggishness in the so‐called industrial low temperature coiling condition, while retardation is less with high temperature coiling. The mechanism is believed to be the particle pinning effect exerted by peak‐aged or over‐aged copper precipitates. Room and high temperature coiled materials show similar strength and ductility after batch annealing. However, the texture development is different in the two cases, which leads to a variation in deep drawability. Copper precipitation has been observed to give rise to an unusual trend in strain hardening with the progress of batch annealing. The strength and formability parameters of the continuous annealed copper‐alloyed interstitial free steel do not depend on the coiling temperature due to dissolution of copper precipitates of the hot rolled material during continuous annealing. Irrespective of the coiling temperature continuous annealed copper‐alloyed interstitial free steels are as good as conventional interstitial free steels particularly in formability parameters.     

Maximum Copper and Tin Contents in LC‐steel Thin Strip ‐ Hot Shortness Model Calculations

For conventional casting processes low copper and tin contents have to be ensured in LC‐steel to avoid hot shortness. It is expected that higher cooling rates, e.g. in thin strip casting, permit higher copper and tin limits. Hot shortness occurs because of selective oxidation of the iron whereby the more noble copper is enriched at the steel‐oxide interface. A liquid metallic copper phase which wets the grain boundaries supports cracking during hot deformation. The enrichment of the liquid copper phase depends on the oxidation temperature: At low temperatures copper is solid, cannot wet the steel surface and is incorporated into the growing oxide layer. At mid temperatures (1083‐1177 °C) the copper phase is liquid, wets the grain boundaries of the steel surface and causes hot shortness. At high temperatures a liquid fayalitic slag is formed in the oxide layer if the steel contains silicon. The fayalitic phase occludes parts of the steel surface and removes copper from the steel surface; then hot shortness is reduced or even avoided. Other mechanisms to remove copper from the steel surface need the presence of Fe₃O₄ and Fe₂O₃ in the oxide layer. These iron oxides are not formed for short oxidation times where linear oxidation takes place. Diffusion of copper into the steel is too slow to reduce hot shortness if copper has an elevated concentration in the steel, e.g. 0.5 wt.‐%. Therefore, only the occlusion mechanism is of importance during linear oxidation. A model is established on the basis of these observations in order to predict an upper copper limit in dependence of the steel strip thickness (cooling behaviour) and the oxygen content in the cooling atmosphere (nitrogen‐oxygen mixture). The model is compared to experimental results from KIMAB which are presented in this issue. It is demonstrated that a copper layer thickness of 0.098 μm at the steel‐oxide interface is sufficient to cause cracks of a depth of more than 0.2 mm. For strip thicknesses below 5 mm a simple approximation can be used to predict the maximum copper content in LC‐steel to avoid hot shortness. For example, thin strip of a thickness of 2 mm will have no cracks (above 0.2 mm) even if 0.7 wt.‐% of copper is contained in the LC‐steel. For atmospheres with a reduced oxygen partial pressure even higher copper contents are possible. Tin is with short oxidation times not a problem concerning hot shortness, as shown by the KIMAB results. This may be explained by the much higher diffusivity of tin in iron compared to copper.     

Twin Roll Casting of Steel Strip ‐ Experiments and Model Considerations on Strip Spottiness

Thin strip casting of steel through a twin‐roll caster demands the production of a perfectly homogeneous strip. This requirement is often not fulfilled due to non‐uniform heat contact between the solidifying strip and the rolls in the pool, which leads to temperature inhomogeneities visible at the strip behind the rolls (spottiness). The effect of spottiness is described from experimental observations in terms of contrast between dark and hot spots and of the mean diameter of the hot spots. The contrast is found to depend on roll material, surface roughness and roll velocity. A general dependence on the temperature difference between melt and rolls is observed. Calculations of heat transfer in the liquid and solid pool explain the hot‐dark‐temperature differences. The spottiness visible on the strip after leaving the rolls is initiated in the liquid pool, but it is enlarged by rolling contact differences in the solid pool. A model consideration based on thermally caused bending of the solidified material layers leads to a good coincidence with experimental data of the heat transfer coefficient at hot spots.     

加热工艺对含铜钢表面氧化的影响

研究了加热工艺对含铜钢表面氧化的影响.结果表明,加热温度和加热时间对含铜钢表面氧化程度影响显著.含铜钢液态铜相出现在1 100～1 200℃的加热温度范围,而在1 000℃和1 300℃加热时,基体与氧化层界面处不出现液态铜相.加热温度为1 100℃时,液态铜相沿奥氏体晶界向基体的渗透能力比1 200℃时更强.高温加热时,随加热时间延长,含铜钢的氧化程度加重,同时也增强了液态铜相向基体的渗透.加镍可有效防止含铜钢在高温过程中形成液态铜相,避免铜发生热脆.     

Thin Strip Casting of Steel with a Twin Roll Caster ‐ Correlation between Feeding System and Strip Quality

In twin roll casting, the strip surface must be of good quality, as the improvement by further rolling is limited. The strip surface is formed close to the pool surface, and thus it is very sensitive to pool turbulences. Good knowledge of the turbulences must be available. In this paper the pool behaviour is studied in a water model, and correlations to twin roll cast strip and its defects are evaluated.     

Laboratory Investigations on Copper‐alloyed Interstitial Free Steel – Part I: Effect of Annealing

Effect of 1.18 wt.% copper on the annealing behaviour and the resulting mechanical properties in conventional mild interstitial free steel has been investigated. It is revealed that copper forms complex precipitates during batch annealing and modifies the batch annealing characteristics as compared with the base steel. Accordingly, strength‐formability parameters are influenced as well. In case of continuous annealing, solute copper controls the mechanical properties.     

含铌微合金化热轧多相钢的控轧控冷工艺

通过热轧试验研究了两阶段轧制+层流冷却、空冷、超快冷的TMCP工艺对高硅铌钢、高硅Nb-Ti钢、低硅Nb-Ti钢显微组织和力学性能的影响。结果表明,控轧控冷后的试验钢含有铁素体、贝氏体、马氏体以及少量残余奥氏体的混合组织。在控轧控冷工艺参数相近的情况下,高硅铌钢、高硅Nb-Ti钢、低硅Nb-Ti钢的抗拉强度依次减小,其伸长率和强塑积依次增大。低硅Nb-Ti钢的伸长率和强塑积分别达到了41%、25 256 MPa.%的最大值。     

Prediction of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Hot Rolled Steel Strip: Part I ‐ Description of Models

A metallurgical through‐process model is presented which describes the microstructural evolution and predicts the final mechanical properties of low carbon steel during hot strip rolling. Process models concern the thermal and deformation phenomena, which take into account the strain, strain rate and temperature distribution along the length of the strip. And the metallurgical models cover five modules, which are (i) austenitization of cast slab in reheating furnace, (ii) recrystallization of austenite in hot rolling, (iii) phase transformation of austenite‐ferrite in laminar cooling on the run‐out‐table, (iv) grain growth after coiling, and (v) final structure‐mechanical properties of products. Temperature is the main parameter and has dominant influence on the microstrutural evolution and the mechanical properties. The related temperature variation in hot strip rolling concerns air cooling, scaling, water cooling, heat transmission by roll contact, heat generation by deformation and friction. These complex factors are incorporated into the thermal models to simulate the temperature distribution along the length of the strip from the reheating furnace exit to the down‐coiler. A self‐learning algorithm is employed to improve the calculation accuracy and the computational temperatures are compared with the measured ones at typical locations. In the structure‐property relationships, two key process parameters (e.g., finishing exit temperature (FT7) and coiling temperature (CT)) are introduced in the model to consider the influence of morphology of microstructure on mechanical properties.     

Direct Strip Casting (DSC) ‐ an Option for the Production of New Steel Grades

With two pilot plants in operation, the Direct Strip Casting (DSC) technology has reached a state from which it can be concluded that a DSC production process is feasible. The core of the process consists of a caster in which liquid steel is fed on an intensively cooled revolving belt. After solidification in a protective atmosphere, the yielded strip of about 10 mm in thickness is directly hot rolled without intermediate reheating. Thus, due to the reduced expenditures for hot rolling and reheating, substantial energy savings compared to conventional slab casting can be achieved. Moreover, the production of new high‐strength, light‐weight steels with an increased content of manganese, aluminium and/or silicon is enabled by the special features of the DSC process. The use of these steels in automotive applications would lead to further energy savings induced by significant weight reductions and an enhanced life cycle of the car body. Furthermore, also a higher share of scrap based strip steel production, requiring less than half of the energy needed for the blast furnace route, becomes conceivable for quality steel grades, as a higher content of tramp elements, e.g. copper and tin, is tolerable without quality losses (surface cracks). Finally, the compact design and the high productivity of the DSC process save capital and processing costs. In the paper, process development steps, material properties and energy saving potentials are outlined.     

含钒低合金钢铸坯高温延塑性研究

采用Gleeble-1500热模拟试验机测试了含钒低合金钢铸坯的高温延塑性,利用扫描电镜、金相显微镜对断口形貌及金相组织进行分析。低合金钢的第Ⅰ脆性温度区在Ts~1 370℃之间,第Ⅲ脆性温度区在915~710℃之间。第Ⅲ脆性区间由奥氏体低温域晶界滑移楔形裂纹造成的沿晶脆性断裂和奥氏体晶界先共析铁素体薄膜造成的沿晶韧性断裂两部分组成。钢中的V对钢的第Ⅲ脆性凹槽的影响比较大,脆化向低温区域延伸。     

屈服强度700MPa级冷成形用热轧带钢的开发

 采用SiMnTiNb低C钢成分、运用TMCP技术在1450mm热连轧生产线上成功开发了一种屈服强度700MPa级热轧超高强冷成形用钢。测定了开发钢的连续冷却相变（CCT）曲线,研究了其析出强化规律,测试了带钢的力学性能和冷弯性能,研究了其焊接性能。结果表明,其组织为4~5μm细晶粒铁素体+贝氏体+少量马氏体,铁素体晶粒中含Nb-Ti沉淀相。超高强度的获得归功于细晶强化+相变强化+析出强化。所开发的热带钢冷弯成形性和焊接性能良好。     

控轧控冷工艺对900 MPa级热轧带钢组织和性能的影响

通过动态CCT曲线测试和实验室控轧控冷试验,分析了900 MPa级热轧带钢连续冷却过程中的相变过程以及不同卷取温度下显微组织、析出相和力学性能的关系。试验结果表明:随着冷却速度提高,显微组织中多边形铁素体比例下降,贝氏体组织比例升高,冷速大于15℃/s时,显微组织全部为贝氏体;随着卷取温度升高,显微组织中针状铁素体比例下降,多边形铁素体比例升高;当卷取温度为600℃时,组织为铁素体+少量珠光体,此时析出相细小弥散,可获得抗拉强度达到1 000 MPa,延伸率17%的热轧产品。     

Effect of Deformation on Continuous Cooling Phase Transformation Behaviors of 780 MPa Nb‐Ti Ultra‐High Strength Steel

For the purpose of achieving the reasonable rolling technology of 780 MPa hot‐rolled Nb‐Ti combined ultra‐high strength steel, the effect of deformation and microalloy elements Nb and Ti on phase transformation behaviors was investigated by thermal simulation experiment. The results indicated: the deformation promoted ferritic transformation; due to the carbon content of the experimental steel was lower (<0.12% wt), the deformation indirectly impacted perlitic transformation through promoting ferritic transformation; the effect of the deformation on bainitic transformation was subject to condition whether proeutectoid ferrite precipitated before bainitic transformation. At low cooling rate of 0.5 °C/s, Nb and Ti promote transformation process γ → α, but that not good for refining the ferrite grain; at high cooling rate of 25 °C/s, Nb and Ti to a certain extent promote bainitic transformation. The recrystallization stop temperature of experimental steel was greater than 1000 °C, and phase transformation point A_r3 was 764 °C. In order to obtain the fully bainite microstructure in the practical rolling process, the cooling rate should be controlled above 15 °C/s, the start finish rolling temperature between 950–980 °C, the finishing temperature between 830–850 °C, the coiling temperature between 450–550 °C.     

A Study of Friction in Non‐Lubricated High Temperature Steel Processing

The effect of friction on the cost of steel rolling and the overall quality of the strip has been overlooked in favour of more controllable aspects, such as temperature and microstructure. When friction is considered, predominantly empirical relationships are employed that have been developed in smaller scale experiments and are not necessarily applicable to the industrial scale. An advancement to the adhesion theory of friction has been developed by Straffelini that links friction with material properties, which compares well with pin‐on‐disk experiments at room temperature using metallic tribo‐pairs. For the purposes of creating conditions analogous to hot rolling of steel, a tool steel (100Cr6) dowel and an oxidised steel sample have been used in a reciprocating friction tester to create a relatively controlled environment in which to study friction at high temperature. The simplified adhesive theory was found to agree well with these experimental results, demonstrating that this theory can be applied to a broader range of conditions than previously tested against.