Characteristics of microstructural evolution during deformation-enhanced ferrite transformation in Nb-microalloyed HSLA steel

Microstructure evolution during deformation of undercooled austenite at 760℃ was investigated in Nb-microalloyed steel by using SEM （scanning electron microscope）, TEM （transmission electron microscope）, and EBSD （electron backscattered diffraction）. It is indicated that during deformation-enhanced ferrite transformation （DEFT） in Nb-microalloyed steel, the incubation period is prolonged, and the higher strain is needed to accomplish ferrite transformation. Therefore, the transformation kinetics curves move to high strain parallelly; and the transformation kinetics curves of Nb-microalloyed steel can be divided into three stages. At the fast stage, the solute drag effect of Nb and the consumption of strain energy for the dynamic precipitation of Nb（CN） led to a long incubation period, and at the second stage, ferrite transformation was accelerated significantly and fine Nb（CN） precipitates restrict the grain growth of ferrite effectively. The results also showed that DEFT in Nb-microalloyed steel is still a nucleation dominated process, and during the microstructure evolution the interchange of 〈001〉 and 〈111〉 texture was obtained.     

Microstructural Features During Strain Induced Ferrite Transformation in 08 and 20Mn Steels

The microstructure evolution during strain induced ferrite transformation was followed in thermal-simulation tests of clean 08 and 20Mn steels. The influences of carbon equivalence and initial austenite grain size on ferrite grain refinement and the volume frac- tion of ferrite during straining were inspected. The results revealed that the accelerating effect of ferrite transformation by strain was increased as the carbon equivalence decreased. However, finer ferrite grains were obtained at higher carbon content. At strain of -1 .5 ferrite grains less than 3 μm and 2 μm can be obtained in 08 and 20Mn steels respectively. Whereas the ferrite grain refinement in 08 steel was due to both effects of strain induced transformation and ferrite dynamic recrystallization, that in 20Mn was mainly due to st fain induced transformation. Heavy strain can produce fine ferrite grains in coarse austenite grained 08 steel, but it would lead to band microstructure in coarse austenite grained 20Mn.     

Ultra-fine ferrite grains obtained in the TSDR process

By careful design of rolling schedule,ultra-fine （～2μm） ferrite grains in a low carbon high niobium （0.09wt%Nb） microalloying steel with average austenite grain sizes above 800 μm can be achieved in the simulated thin slab direct rolling process. The 5-pass deformation was divided into two stages： the refinement of austenite through complete recrystallization and the refinement of ferrite through dynamic strain-induced transformation. The effects of Nb in solution and strain-induced NbCN precipitates on the ferrite transformation were also extensively discussed.     

Precipitation and Hetero-nucleation Effect of V（C,N） in V-Microalloyed Steel

The precipitation behavior of V（C, N） in steels microalloyed with vanadium was researched using a thermal simulator during single-pass deformation at 800-750 ℃. The V（C, N） precipitates and its nucleation effect on ferrite were investigated by TEM and EDS. The experimental results show that there are two remarkable heterogeneous nucleation effects of V（C, N） particles precipitated before γ →/ α phase change： primary reason is that high coherency between V（C, N） and ferrite promotes V（C, N） to become a nucleating center of intragranular ferrite; secondary reason is that the coarsening of V（C, N） causes locally solute-poor region in austenite, thus expedites the nucleation of intragranular ferrites further. Furthermore, the relationship between the size and shape of V（C, N） was studied, and identification method was provided for distinguishing interphase precipitation and general precipitation to avoid erroneous judgment and misguide.     

Effect of Niobium Addition on Hot Deformation Behaviors of Medium Carbon Ultra-high Strength Steels

The hot deformation behaviors of two medium carbon ultra-high strength steels with different niobium contents were investigated by using Zener-Hollmom parameter and processing map,and the effect of niobium addition on the hot deformation behavior of medium carbon steel was determined.The hot compression tests were conducted on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator deformed at temperatures from 850 to 1 200 ℃ and strain rates from 0.001 to 1 s~(-1).The processing maps of two test steels were built at a true strain of 0.7 based on dynamic materials model(DMM).There are two peak efficiency domains and two flow instability regions in both test steels.However,the peak efficiency domains of Nb-bearing steel move to higher temperature due to the inhibition of dynamic recrystaUization(DRX),and the instability domains of Nb-bearing steel are enlarged due to the precipitation of Nb-containing particles during hot deformation.The optimum process parameters of Nb-bearing and Nb-free steels for industrial production were determined according to the processing map and the microstructural observation.     

Effect of Nb on the Microstructure and Properties of Cold Rolled and Annealed Mo Microalloyed Bainitic Steel

Two kinds of low carbon bainitic steels,Nb-free Mo bearing and Nb + Mo addition steels,were cold rolled and annealed to investigate the effect of micro-alloying element Nb on the microstructure and properties of Mo microalloyed low carbon high strength bainitic steel. No precipitates were observed in Nb-free Mo bearing steel,whereas,two types of precipitates,i.e.,Nb( C,N) and composite( Nb,Mo)( C,N),were observed in the Nb + Mo microalloyed steel,resulting in precipitation strengthening. The strength of Mo bearing steel was improved by addition of Nb under the same annealing conditions. The grain size of Nb addition steel was almost the same as Nb-free steel. Unlike the obvious grain refinement and precipitation strengthening in hot rolling,the increase in yield strength of Nb addition steels in cold rolling and annealing mainly results from the precipitation strengthening,while the effect of grain refinement strengthening can be almost ignored.     

Effect of austenite grain size and accelerated cooling start temperature on the transformation behaviors of multi-phase steel

The transformation behaviors and microstructures of a low carbon multi-phase steel were investigated by the simulation of deformation-relaxation-accelerated cooling processing,using a Gleeble 3500 thermal-mechanical simulator.A pre-treatment of solid solution at 1200°C was implemented to minimize the influence on transformation from solid solution/precipitation qualities of 0.08%Nb in this steel.On this basis,the effect of austenite grain size and accelerated cooling start temperature were studied individually.The results indicated that the transformation of ferrite in multi-phase steel could be significantly promoted by the refinement of austenite grains and the increase of relaxation time,while the hard phase,such as lath bainite or martensite,could still be obtained with the following accelerated cooling.In contrast,more uniform lower temperature transformed microstructure could form from coarse grain austenite.The potential benefit of austenite grain size on adjusting the proportion of phases in multiphase steel was also discussed.     

TRIP steel retained austenite transformation under cyclic V-bending deformation

To investigate the transformation behavior of TRIP steel retained austenite under cyclic load, cyclic V-bending deformation of low carbon Si-Mn TRIP600 was studied by experiment and finite element in this paper. The results showed that, under cyclic V-bending deformation, retained austenite in TRIP steel transformed into martensite gradually with the increasing of bending times, and for the symmetrical characteristic, upper surface and lower surface presented the same transformation tendency. From the first to the fourth V-bending deformatiort, retained austenite volume fraction decreased nearly linearly and then attained saturation step by step. Compressive stress state was helpful for martensite transformation than tension stress state with V-bending deformation, and strain magnitude was the determining factor for retaining anstenite martensitic transformation. With the increasing of bending times effective stress increased and the relationship between maximum effective stress and bending times was nearly linear. Effective stress and effective strain distribution were non-uniform, the maximum effective stress and effective strain were present in the center of the samples. The relationships between retained austenite and V-bending times, and retained austenite with effective strain were set up as Eqs.（1）-（5）. The relationship was typical quadric function, decreased linearly for the initial deformation and attained saturation finally.     

Dynamic recrystallization behaviour of Nb-Ti microalloyed steels

The dynamic recrystallization （DRX） behavior of Nb-Ti microalloyed steels was investigated by isothermal single compression tests in the temperature range of 900-1 150 ℃ at constant strain rates of 0.1-5 s^-1. DRX was retarded effectively at low temperature due to the onset of dynamic precipitation of Nb and Ti carbonitrides, resulting in higher values of the peak strain. An expression was developed for the activation energy of deformation as a function of the contents of Nb and Ti in solution as well as other alloying elements. A new value of corrective factor was determined and applied to quantify the retardation produced by increase in the amount of Nb and Ti dissolved at the reheating temperature. The ratio of critical strain to peak strain decreases with increasing equivalent Nb content. In addition, the effects of Ti content and deformation conditions on DRX kinetics and steady state grain size were determined. Finally, the kinetics of dynamic precipitation was determined and effect of dynamic precipitation on the onset of DRX was clarified based on the comparison between precipitate pinning force and recrystallization driving force.     

Effect of deformation and cooling rate on the transformation behavior and microstructure of X70 steels

The effects of the deformation in the non-recrystallization region of austenite and the cooling rate on the transformation behavior and microstructure of low-carbon low-alloy steel for pipeline application were studied on the thermal-mechanical simulator Gleeble-1500. It was shown that an increase in deformation amount can greatly increase the nucleation site of ferrite when deformed in the non-recrystallization region of austenite, and an increase in nucleation ratio can greatly refine grains. When the cooling rate is accelerated, the driving force of nucleation is increased and the nucleation rate also improves. Ultra-refine grains can be obtained by controlled rolling. The high density of ferrite nucleus, which forms along the austenite grain boundary, twin interface, and deforma- tion band are introduced in the matrix of austenite by the control of hot rolling, after which the microstructure can be refined. It was found that the acicular ferrite has a very fine sub-structure, high dislocation density, and a thin slab with ultra-fine grains. Small M/A islands and cementite are precipitated on the matrix of the slabs by the analysis technique of TEM and SEM.     

Austenite formation during intercritical annealing in C-Mn cold-rolled dual phase steel

Two different kinds of experimental techniques were used to in-situ study the austenite formation during intercritical annealing in C-Mn dual phase steel. The microstructure evolution was observed by confocal laser scanning microscope, and the austenite isothermal and non-isothermal transformation kinetics were studied by dilatometry. The results indicate that banded structure is produced for the reason of composition segregation and the competition between recrystallization and phase transformation. Austenite prefers to nucleate not only at ferrite/ferrite grain boundaries, but also inside the grains of ferrite.Furthermore, the austenitizing process is accomplished mainly via migration of the existing austenite/ferrite interface rather than nucleation of new grains. The incubation process can be divided into two stages which are controlled by carbon and manganese diffusion, respectively. During the incubation process, the nucleation rate of austenite decreases, and austenite growth changes from two-dimensional to one-dimensional. The partitioning coefficient, defined as the ratio of manganese content in the austenite to that in the adjacent ferrite, increases with increasing soaking time.     

双相不锈钢表面奥氏体高氮层的制备技术

高温渗氮是在奥氏体/铁素体双相不锈钢表面形成奥氏体高氮层的一种有效方法.为了获得氮含量高、组织均匀且适合于后续加工的表面高氮不锈钢层，必须确定合理的高温渗氮工艺.通过优化高温渗氮工艺参数，研究了双相不锈钢高温渗氮过程中加热温度、保温时间、氮气压力等对渗氮效果的影响.结果表明，通过高温高压渗氮可使不锈钢表面形成高氮氮化层，可使双相不锈钢通过渗氮发生表面奥氏体转变，获得组织梯度变化的多相复合不锈钢材料.     

奥贝双相钢力学性能及塑变分析

采用等温处理方法获得了奥氏体含昨铁素体中含碳量不同的奥氏体－贝氏体双相钢,研究了等温处理温度对奥氏体量和铁素体中碳含量的影响,测定了双相钢的力学性能;建立了奥贝双相钢等应变模型,计算了奥贝钢中两相的塑性应变分配,对双相钢的塑性变形及影响进行了初步的理论探讨。     

残余奥氏体及其机械稳定性与钢强韧性关系的研究

钢中残余奥氏体发生应变诱发马氏体相变的百分量与拉伸应变量的对数呈线性关系,用直线斜率的倒数Ks值可表示残余奥氏体机械稳定性的大小。提高钢中残余奥氏体量及其机械稳定性是改善钢强韧性的有效途径之一。残余奥氏体发生应变诱发马氏体相变吸收能量是提高钢韧性的主要原因。在低碳贝氏体钢中,以M—A岛形式存在的残余奥氏体因受岛中马氏体的强化作用使屈服强度保持较高水平,而残余奥氏体在拉伸的均匀塑性变形阶段因应变诱发相变形成的马氏体使钢的抗拉强度提高。     

Modeling of microstructure evolution and mechanical properties during hot-strip rolling of Nb steels

An integrated metallurgical model was developed for Nb steels to predict the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties during the hot-strip rolling and cooling process. On the basis of the industrial data, the transformation kinetics, strength, and elongation rate were evaluated for different chemical compositions and processing parameters. The yield strength and tensile strength increase with increasing Nb content or decreasing finishing temperature. The bainite distributed in finer ferrite matrix, which is produced at relatively low coiling temperatures, can greatly increase the strength of steel, especially tensile strength, thereby decreasing the yield ratio. A reasonable agreement was found between the predicted and measured results. It indicates that the present models can be used to simulate the actual production process.