Structure-property relations and the design of Fe-4Cr-C base structural steels for high strength and toughness

Some design guidelines for improving strength-toughness combinations in medium car-bon structural steels are critically reviewed. From this, quaternary alloy development based on Fe/Cr/C steels with Mn or Ni additions for improved properties is described. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray analysis reveal increasing amounts of retained austenite in these alloys with Mn content up to 2 wt pct and Ni additions at 5 wt pct after quenching from 1100°C. A corresponding improvement in toughness properties is also found. Grain refining results in a further increase in the amount of retained austenite. In addition, the excellent combinations of strength and toughness in these quaternary alloys are attributed to the production of dislocated lath martensite from a homogeneous austenite phase free from undissolved alloy carbides. The question of thermal instability of retained austenite following tempering is considered in detail and it is shown that the decomposition of retained austenite is closely related to the ease of nucleation and growth of cementite. Thus, graphitizing alloying elements such as Ni are beneficial in postponing the decomposition of retained austenite. Formerly with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA This paper is based on a presentation made at a symposium on “Precipitation Processes in Structural Steels” held at the annual meeting of the AIME, Denver, Colorado, February 27 to 28, 1978, under the sponsorship of the Ferrous Metal-lurgy Committee of The Metallurgical Society of AIME.     

Optimization of strength and toughness in two high-strength stainless steels

It has been found possible to increase the strength and toughness of two high-strength stainless steels, AFC 77 and AFC 260, by austenitizing at temperatures that are in the range where both austenite and δ ferrite are stable. The δ ferrite is then removed by isothermal transformation in the range 1800° to 2000°F. This technique results in a greater solution of carbides and intermetallic particles and consequently in a greater amount of retained austenite than is possible at austenitizing temperatures below the δ-ferrite range. In addition, the technique permits optimum mechanical properties to be obtained over a wider compositional range.     

Development of a high strength stainless steel with improved toughness and ductility

Compositional modifications have been made to the existing Cr?Mo?Co stainless steels to produce a steel (alloy B) which combines the high strength of AFC 77 with the toughness of AFC 260. This has been achieved by utilizing both the strengthening effect of grain refinement and the crack stopping ability of retained austenite. After tempering at 800° to 900°F alloy B possesses higher elongation than other high strength stainless steels due to the ease with which its retained austenite transforms under stress to martensite to delay necking. An explanation has been advanced for the anomalously low tensile yield strength that occurs in both alloy B and AFC 77 after tempering at 1000°F.     

Effect of microstructure on strength and toughness of heat-treated low alloy structural steels

Several low alloy structural steels with different levels of Ni, Cr, and Mo and carbon contents ranging from 0.12 to 0.42 wt pct have been studied to determine the effect of transformation structures on strength and toughness. The strength and toughness were, respectively, evaluated with the yield stress (0.2 pct proof stress) in tensile tests under ambient temperature and ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) in Charpy impact tests. The significant conclusions are as follows: well-defined packets are observed in martensitic and lower bainitic structures, and in this case the packet diameter is the primary microstructural parameter controlling the yield stress and DBTT. The mechanical properties are also improved to a lesser degree with decreasing width of the lath present within the packet. If the steel has an upper bainitic structure, the packet is composed of well-defined blocks, and the block size controls the yield stress and DBTT.     

Effect of transformation substructure on the strength and toughness of Fe−Mn alloys

Phase transformations in Fe?Mn alloys containing up to 9 pct Mn were studied by optical and electron transmission microscopy. Either equiaxed ferrite, massive ferrite, or massive martensite can form on cooling from austenite. The particular type of transformation product formed was found to depend on the alloy content, austenite grain size, and cooling rate. The mechanical properties of all the transformation products were evaluated using tensile and impact testing and are discussed in terms of the observed microstructural features. Yield strength and impact transition temperature were found to be relatively insensitive to manganese content but were strongly influenced by the transformation substructure and grain size of the transformed phase. In martensite it has been shown that the structural unit analogous to grain size in ferrite is the martensite packet size, which in turn is controlled by the prior austenite grain size. The fracture surface of broken impact specimens and the fracture profile were examined by means of electron and optical microscopy techniques. These fractographic observations were correlated with impact test data and microstructural observations of the various transformation products.     

The effect of loading rate on the strength and toughness of fine-grained structural steels

The effect of loading rate on the strength and deformation characteristics of tensile tested smoothed round bar specimens and on linear-elastic and elastic-plastic fracture toughness values was investigated. Test materials were a high toughness melt of the fine-grained structural steel 20 MnMoNi 5 5 and two model materials of reduced toughness. The strain rate was varied between ?? = 10^?3 and 10³ s^?1 in the tensile tests, the loading rate between K? = 1 and 2 · 10⁶ MPam^1/2 s^?1 in the fracture toughness tests. The true-stress true-strain curve is shifted to higher stresses with increasing strain rate. A reduction of the deformation characteristics was only observed in cases of extremely reduced toughness. However, no brittle fracture at nominal stresses below yield was found in the tensile tests with smoothed specimens. Contrary to that all fracture mechanics tests showed a reduction of the crack initiation toughness with increasing loading rate K?.     

The crystallography of the austenite-ferrite/carbide transformation in Fe−Cr−C alloys

This paper establishes the crystallography of the austenite-ferrite/carbide transformation in Cr bearing steels. The crystallographic analysis, based on the use of retained austenite in the martensitic phase, is consistent with the oriented nucleation of ferrite in austenite. Similarly, it is shown that the nature of the carbide dispersion, which precipitates in association with the transformation, is a sensitive function of the exact austenite/ferrite crystallography.     

The effect of austenitizing temperature upon the microstructure and mechanical properties of experimental Fe/Cr/C steels

The present study investigates the as-quenched mechanical propertiesviz, strength, ductility and sharp notch (K _Ic ) as well as blunt notch (Charpy) toughness, of simple Fe/Cr/C alloys with and without titanium as a function of austenitizing temperature. For the ternary Fe/Cr/C alloys the results are consistent with earlier investigations, but the fracture toughness does not change with increasing austenitizing temperatures after 0.2 wt pct Ti is added. The titanium forms carbides (TiC) that did not dissolve, providing a roughly constant number of crack nucleation sites, and preventing austenite grain growth up to 1100°C. The differences in mechanical behavior, particularly the rounded notch toughness, are discussed and explained in terms of the microstructural characteristics of the alloys, as determined by detailed electron microscopy analysis.     

Kinetics of the pearlite reaction in Fe−C−Cr

Velocity and spacing measurements on the pearlite reaction in three eutectoid alloys of Cr (0.4, 0.9 and 1.8 wt pct) have been recorded and compared with growth and spacing equations based on a variety of thermodynamic and kinetic models. At high temperatures the reaction is controlled by phase boundary diffusion of Cr while at lower temperatures, a local equilibrium no-partition model with kinetic control by carbon diffusion best represents the data. At intermediate temperatures there is a smooth transition rather than a sharp break betwewn the two regimes. There is a discrepancy between theory and experiment on the slope of the spacingvs inverse under cooling plot which can be removed by assuming that the ferrite-cementite epitaxy improves with the addition of chromium. R. C. SHARMA, formerly with McMaster University     

The relative stabilities of Cr23C6/ Cr7C3/ and Cr3C2 and the phase relationships in ternary Cr-Mo-C system

The thermodynamic properties of CrC_6/23, CrC_3/7, CrC_2/3, and MoC_1/2 reported in the literature have been correlated with the relative stabilities of these carbide phases derived from ternary phase diagrams. On the basis of the free energy of formation for one of the carbides and the free energy changes for the various equilibria occurring in ternary Mo-Cr-C system at 1300°C, free energies of formation for the stable and unstable carbide phases have been obtained. Using this free energy data, a calculated ternary Mo-Cr-C phase diagram is presented which agrees well with the experimentally determined one.     

Structure and mechanical properties of Fe−Cr−C−Co steels

As part of a continuing program concerning the microstructures and mechanical properties of steels in which particular attention is given to transformation substructures, the present work is concerned with martensite and bainite in Fe−Cr−C steels with and without cobalt. Although cobalt raises theM _s temperature it does not affect the extent of twinning for the same carbon level and so M _s temperature alone does not control transformation substructure. Thus cobalt is not effective in retaining dislocated martensite as carbon is increased and in this regard cobalt is not beneficial to toughness. TheM _s temperatures of the steels were relatively high and hence isothermal transformation yielded mixtures of bainites and tempered martensite depending on the temperature of transformation. The mechanical properties of the isothermally transformed steels were inferior to those of the tempered steels due to the interference of upper bainite or (tempered) martensite during the isothermal transformation. Thus, in the steels having highM _s temperatures the twinning tempered martensitic structure had relatively better mechanical properties compared to the isothermally transformed steels. Attempts to produce desirable autotempered structures by air cooling (single heat treatments) were not successful and did not improve the mechanical properties since the structure consisted of a mixture of bainite and martensite. This paper is based upon a thesis submitted by M. RAGHAVAN in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science at the University of California.     

Strength and toughness of Fe-10ni alloys containing C,Cr, Mo,and Co

The effects of C (0.10 to 0.20 pct), Cr (0 to 3 pct), Mo (0 to 2 pct), and Co (0 to 8 pct) on the yield strength, toughness (Charpy shelf energy), and tempering behavior of martensitic lONiCr-Mo-Co steels have been investigated. Variations in the carbon content between 0.10 and 0.20 pct result in yield strengths between 160 and 210 ksi (1.1 and 1.45 GN/m²) when these steels are tempered at 900° to 1000°F (480° to 540°C) for times of 1 to 100 h. These steels exhibit a secondary-hardening peak at 900° to 1000° F (480° to 540°C) where coarse Fe₃C carbides are gradually replaced by a fine, dislocation-nucleated dispersion of (Mo, Cr)₂C carbides. Maximum toughness at a given yield strength in these steels is only obtained when they are tempered for sufficiently long times so that the coarse Fe₃C carbides are completely dissolved. Molybdenum is primarily responsible for the secondary-hardening peak observed in these steels. However, chromium additions do result in lower secondaryhardening temperatures and promote coarsening of the secondary-hardening carbide. Best combinations of strength and toughness are obtained with steels containing 2 pct Cr and 1 pct Mo. Cobalt increases the yield strength of these steels over the entire tempering range and results in a higher secondary-hardening peak. This effect of cobalt is attributed to 1) a retardation in the rate of recovery of the dislocation substructure of the martensite, 2) the formation of a finer dispersion of secondary-hardening carbides, and 3) solid-solution strengthening. The finer dispersion of secondary-hardening carbides in steels containing cobalt is favored by the finer dislocation substructure in these steels since the (Mo, Cr)₂C carbide is dislocation-nucleated. This fine dispersion of (Mo, Cr)₂C carbide combined with the high nickel content accounts for the excellent combination of strength and toughness exhibited by these steels.