Behaviour of Rare Earths in Low Sulphur Steel

In steels 16Mn and X60 with low S content (0. 003～0. 005%), rare earth metals (REM) still show ef-fects on purifying the molten steel and controlling the sulphide morphology. The optimum ratio ofRE/S is about 2. 0, which causes lower content of oxygen and inclusions and higher impacttoughness. The amount of REM in solid solution in the steel was determined by means of inductivecoupling plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. The dissolved REM in low S steel could decrease the propor-tion of pearlite and increase the strength of the steel.     

Effect of rare earths on impact toughness of a low-carbon steel

Studies of an industrial low-carbon steel (B450NbRE) suggest that the impact toughness is unexpectedly low under its practical service, probably resulting from the unstable recovery of rare earths (RE) in steelmaking. The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of RE on the impact toughness in low-carbon steel. The B450NbRE steels with content of 0.0012–0.0180 wt.% RE were produced by vacuum induction furnace. The impact toughness and microstructure were investigated after hot rolled. The Gleeble-1500 thermal simulator was used to validate the effect of RE on the microstructure. The results indicate that the microstructure of hot-rolled steels is characterized by polygonal ferrite, quasi-polygonal ferrite, bainite and pearlite. The impact toughness increases with RE contents reaching the peak with content of 0.0047 wt.% RE, such a change exhibits the same rule as the case of the ferrite amount. However, this improvement in impact toughness is not only due to an increase in ferrite amount, but also the fine grained structure and the cleaner grain boundaries. And content of 0.0180 wt.% RE is excessive. Such an addition of the RE resulted in the martensite precipitates at the grain boundaries, which are extremely detrimental to impact toughness.     

微量稀土元素对Q235B钢组织和性能的影响

为研究微量稀土元素对Q235B钢的夹杂物形态转化和细晶化及钢材强韧性能的影响,用真空感应炉熔化、精炼、制备了不同微稀土质量分数的钢样,用成分、OM、SEM、EDS和图像分析仪等方法,分析研究了微量稀土元素对Q235B钢微观组织和力学性能的影响.结果表明：在本研究条件下,随稀土量的增加,铁素体晶粒由24μm减小至12μm...     

钒、铬微合金化对高碳钢微观组织与力学性能的影响

为了开发性能更优的高碳盘条钢,在原有70钢的基础上,以铬、钒微合金化设计开发新钢种,并分析了铬、钒对试验钢的微观组织和力学性能的影响。铬、钒单独微合金化,使索氏体化率增大、片层间距减小、原始奥氏体晶粒细化;与70钢相比,随铬、钒含量的增加,钢的抗拉强度逐渐升高,断口伸长量下降。铬钒复合微合金化对钢中微观组织的改善明显好于单独微合金化;与70钢相比,铬钒复合微合金化钢的强度显著升高,塑性略有降低;与80钢相比,铬钒复合微合金化钢的强度和塑性均较高。     

Effect of Cu addition on microstructure and impact toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steels

The effects of Cu content on microstructure and impact toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of high-strength low-alloy steels were investigated. It has been observed that the microstructure in the simulated CGHAZ of Cu-free steel is dominated by a small proportion of acicular ferrite and predominantly bainite with martensite–austenite constituent. Whereas, in the 0.45 and 1.01% Cu-containing steels, the acicular ferrite increased significantly due to the effective nucleation on intragranular inclusions with outer layer of MnS and CuS. The formation of acicular ferrite is attributed to superior high heat-affected zone impact toughness in the 0.45% Cu-containing steel. Furthermore, the increasing martensite–austenite constituent and ε-Cu precipitates in the simulated CGHAZ of 1.01% Cu-containing steel caused degradation in impact toughness.     

Development of mechanical properties of structural high-carbon low-alloy steels through modified heat treatment

The modified heat treatment, which produces a mixed structure of martensite and lower bainite through short-term isothermal transformation at just above the martensitic transformation temperature,M _s temperature, followed by oil quenching (after conventional austenitization), has been applied to three high-carbon low-alloy steels with different levels of nickel and chromium contents at similar molybdenum levels, in which carbon was allowed to replace relatively expensive additions of nickel and chromium, for their ultra-high strength application. The significant conclusions are as follows: an ultra-high strength steel of 1900 M Pa yieldstress grade with a high toughness level can be obtained when about 60 vol % lower bainite is associated with 473 K tempered martensite of 0.60% C-1.80% Ni-0.80% Cr-0.25% Mo steel. If approximately 25 vol % lower bainite appears in 673 K tempered martensite of the steel, a 1700 M Pa yield-stress grade steel with high toughness and moderate ductility levels can be attained. However, alloying nickel is essential to some extent for development of the mechanical properties with the modified heat treatment suggested in the present work.     

A Study of Microstructures and Properties of High‐Carbon Si‐Cr Cast Steel Containing Rare Earth and Titanium

The microstructure, tensile and impact behaviour of high‐carbon Si‐Cr cast steel containing rare earth (RE) and titanium have been determined after austempering. The additions of RE and titanium refined the primary austenite grain size resulting in improving toughness. The addition of silicon handicapped the formation of carbide and carbide‐free bainitic ferrite and carbon enriched retained austenite could be obtained in the austempering structures of high‐carbon Si‐Cr cast steel, which had excellent mechanical properties and abrasion resistance. Moreover, the basic tendency of the mechanical properties of high‐carbon Si‐Cr cast steel influenced by the austempering temperature was that the hardness and tensile strength reduced and the impact toughness and fracture toughness increased with increasing temperature. The comprehensive properties were the best while austempering at 330^oC.     

夹杂物和晶粒尺寸对洁净车轮钢室温冲击韧度的影响

对洁净车轮钢在不同温度下进行正火处理,得到不同晶粒尺寸的显微组织,然后对车轮钢进行室温冲击试验,利用扫描电镜对冲击试样断口形貌进行观察,研究了夹杂物和晶粒尺寸对洁净车轮钢室温冲击韧度的影响。结果表明：部分车轮钢冲击试样以夹杂物起裂,夹杂物类型为Ti（C,N）,另一部分冲击试样断口起裂源处则未发现有夹杂物,但尺寸在10μm以下的Ti（C,N）夹杂物对车轮钢的冲击韧度没有明显的影响,而晶粒尺寸对车轮钢的冲击韧度有明显影响;其主要原因是室温下车轮钢冲击断裂的临界事件是微裂纹穿过晶界扩展引发解理断裂,因此晶粒尺寸是决定洁净车轮钢冲击韧度的主要因素。     

Cu对9Ni钢强度和低温韧性的影响

研究了Cu含量(质量分数)对9Ni钢强度和低温韧性的影响,并结合显微组织观察和精细结构分析了含铜9Ni钢的强韧化机理.结果表明,经过淬火+两相区淬火+回火(QLT)处理,Cu含量由0提高到1.5%,9Ni钢的室温屈服强度和抗拉强度分别提高约150和105 MPa;随着Cu含量的提高-196℃低温冲击功呈现先增加后降低的趋势,Cu含量为1.0%时达到最高值157 J,而所有含铜9Ni钢的冲击功均保持在较高的水平。随着Cu含量的增加,钢中二次回火马氏体增加而铁素体减少;颗粒或短杆棒状Cu析出物在基体上析出,组织强化与析出强化共同使钢的强度提高。同时,Cu的加入提高了二次回火马氏体板条边界上的逆转奥氏体含量,并富集于逆转奥氏体中提高其稳定性,从而提高了钢的低温韧性。     

Effects of yttrium on microstructure and properties of reduced activation ferritic-martensitic steel

This study investigates the inclusions, microstructure, tensile properties, and impact toughness of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels with different Y contents (0.006, 0.034 and 0.071?wt-%). Owing to the pinning of the grain boundary to the Y inclusions (which refines the original austenite grain size) and an existing Fe–Cr–Ta–Y–S–O phase, the tensile strength at both room and high temperatures increased with increasing Y content (below 0.071%). Increasing the Y content to 0.034 wt-% decreased the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT). However, when the Y content reached 0.071?wt-%, the DBTT increased as the Y precipitated into blocky yttrium-rich inclusions. The microstructure, tensile properties, and impact toughness of the RAFM steel were optimised at a Y content of approximately 0.034?wt-%.     

Influence of sulphur additions on impact properties of bainitic or martensitic steels

Abstract

Effects of sulphur addition on the Charpy impact properties of various continuously cooled bainitic steels with different prior austenite grain size, hardness, and content of retained austenite were investigated and compared with martensitic steels. The impact properties of 1473 K austenitised bainitic steels were improved with increasing sulphur content up to 0·1 wt-%, while the impact properties of martensitic steels were deteriorated with increasing sulphur content. The crack initiation energy of bainitic steels increased with the increase of sulphur content because the structure units surrounded by the high angle boundaries were refined with the increase of manganese sulphide inclusions which caused the expansion of ductile fracture area. On the other hand, the impact energy, particularly the crack propagation energy, of martensitic steels decreased with increasing sulphur content because the nucleation sites of voids increased with the increase of manganese sulphide inclusions in the ductile fracture region.     

Fe-Cr-C-B堆焊合金耐磨性研究

采用铺粉堆焊方式,在低碳钢表面堆焊高碳铬铁和硼铁混合合金粉末,研究了Cr、C含量对Fe-Cr-C-B堆焊合金耐磨性的影响,结果表明,随着Cr、C含量的增加,硬度逐渐增加,磨损损失逐渐减少,耐磨性增强.本试验中,当Cr含量为31.67％、C含量为3.85％,B含量为0.4％时,磨损失重最小.硼对Fe-Cr-C-B合金耐磨...     

Replacement of conventionally complex processing for low alloy steel 20Cr2Ni4A by rare earth carburising at lower temperature

Abstract

This paper deals with the effects of rare earth (RE) addition on the microstructure and properties of 20Cr2Ni4A steel carburised at 860°C. Compared with conventional 920°C carburising and other complex treatments, finer and more dispersed carbide precipitates formed in the surface layers. A superfine martensitic structure and a less residual austenite were obtained by direct quenching after RE 860°C carburising. The microstructure exhibited a higher microhardness, a wear resistant surface layer, and it also led to an increase in impact toughness. In addition, the heat treatment period for this steel was remarkably reduced by the replacement of conventional complex treatments by RE 860°C carburising.     

Microstructure,mechanical properties and high stress abrasive wear behavior of air-cooled MnCrB cast steels

Three medium carbon low alloyed MnCrB cast steels containing different Cr contents (0.3%, 0.6%, and 1.2%) were designed and the effect of Cr contents on the microstructure, mechanical properties and high stress abrasive wear behavior of the cast steels after 850 °C air-cooling and 220 °C tempering was studied. The results show that the hardenability of the MnCrB cast steels was excellent. The microstructure of the cast steels with low Cr contents (0.3% or 0.6%) consists of granular bainite and lower bainite/martensite multiphase. With increasing of Cr content, the formability of martensite was improved, the hardness and wear-resistance increased, but the impact toughness decreased in that more bainite was replaced by martensite. The air-cooled MnCrB cast steel containing 0.6% Cr, with granular bainite and lower bainite/martensite multiphase, exhibited excellent combination of strength, hardness, ductility, and impact toughness. In addition, its abrasive wear-resistance was 30% more than that of Hadfield cast steel in the high stress abrasive wear condition. This air-cooled MnCrB cast steel by simple alloying scheme and heat treatment has the advantages of high-performance, low cost, and environmentally friendly. It is a potential advanced wear-resistant cast steel for low- or even medium-impact abrasive conditions.     

Influence of heat treatments on toughness and sensitization of a Ti-alloyed supermartensitic stainless steel

Supermartensitic steels are a new class of martensitic stainless steels developed to obtain higher corrosion resistance and better toughness through the reduction of carbon content, and addition of Ni and Mo. They were developed to more critical applications or to improve the performance obtained with conventional grades AISI 410, 420, and 431. In this study, the influences of the tempering parameters on the microstructure, mechanical properties (hardness and toughness), and sensitization of a Ti-alloyed supermartensitc stainless steel were investigated. The material showed temper embrittlement in the 400–600 °C range, as detected by low temperature (−46 °C) impact tests. The degree of sensitization measured by double loop reactivation potentiodynamic tests increased continuously with the increase of tempering temperature above 400 °C. Healing due to Cr diffusion at high tempering temperatures was not observed. Double tempered specimens showed high amounts (>20%) of reverse austenite but their toughness were similar to specimens single tempered at 625 and 650 °C.     

Effect of inclusion size on mechanical properties of alumina toughened cubic zirconia

The relationship between alumina inclusion size and mechanical properties of particulate cubic zirconia-alumina composites was studied. The composites of the diverse size and content of alumina inclusions and of the nearly constant size of zirconia grains were used. Physical mixtures of the 8 mol% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ nano-powder and the γ-Al₂O₃ or α -Al₂O₃ micro-powder were cold isostatically pressed and then pressurelessly sintered for 2 h at 1300^∘C in air. The γ -Al₂O₃ and α -Al₂O₃ powder was composed of the particles of 0.17 and 0.36 μ m in size, respectively. Crystallites of the zirconia powder had the size of 6 nm. Microstructural features of the composites have been characterised quantitatively. Hardness, critical stress intensity factor and bending strength of the composites was measured and correlated with the microstructural features. Depending on the size and content, the alumina inclusions influenced strength of the composites by influencing their fracture toughness and the presence of flaws of critical size. An increase in size of the alumina inclusions was accompanied by the increase of fracture toughness due to the additional contribution of large alumina inclusions to the crack deflection mechanism. It was found that decreasing the alumina inclusion size significantly below the cubic zirconia matrix grain size (more than 3 times) did not lead to the increased values of fracture toughness of the composites. The highest increase in fracture toughness (up to 3.9 MPa⋅ m^0.5) has been found when the inclusion size was comparable to the matrix grain size.     

Oriented thermomechanical hardening and recrystallization of high-carbon steels

Summary Recrystallization of austenite in high-carbon steels after light ( = 20–25%) deformation is not a uniform process because of the nonuniform and localized character of the deformation of austenite grains. The largest increase in the average grain size of austenite in steel ShKh15 takes place during the first 1.5 min of post-deformation annealing, and the grain growth rate is much faster in the transverse than in the longitudinal direction.As a result of recrystallization processes during HTMT of high-carbon steels, their strength and ductility are sometimes reduced below the level recorded for quench-hardened and tempered specimens.Recrystallization during HTMT leads to a reduction in the degree of anisotropy of mechanical properties determined in tests under direct and inverse loads. The results of mechanical tests show, however, that oriented inclusions and a striated structure confer a considerable degree of anisotropy on the properties of recrystallized specimens.The reduction of quasi-brittle strength of martensite after HTMT (followed by recrystallization) is to a large degree attributable to the oriented growth of recrystallized grains; this relation is described by Eq. (2). The reduction in ductility is associated with the reduced quasi-brittle strength of martensite formed from recrystallized austenite.     

The effects of RE on Toughness of 30CrMnSi wear-resistant cast steel

The effects of RE (La and Ce) on toughness of 30CrMnSi wear-resistance cast steel have been investigated by means of analysing microstructures and mearsering the properties of the steel with and without RE. The results show that RE can refine the as-cast microstructures, hinder or eliminate needle and network ferrite, increase the dislocation density and the quantity of dislocated martensite, and improve the shape and distribution of inclusions. Therefore the mechanical properties of the steel can be greatly enhanced, especially the toughness of the steel.     

Precipitation Behavior of TiN in Bearing Steel

The precipitation behavior of titanium nitride (TIN) in bearing steel and effects of TiN inclusions on quality of the steel have been studied by thermodynamic calculation and experiment. The results show that with the increase of the content of Ti and [N], the properties of bearing steel decreased; adjusting the content of N and Ti could influence the precipitation occasion and condition of TiN in the steels. If Ti content is less than 30x10-6 and nitrogen content is less than 53x10-6, the temperature of TiN precipitation is under the solidus temperature and the size "\s small so that they have little harmful and even beneficial effect on the properties owing to grain refinement.     

Improved fracture toughness of ultrahigh strength steel through control of non-metallic inclusions

In recent years, ultrahigh-strength steels, which can be employed successfully at yield strengths of 1400 MPa or higher, have been used increasingly for critical structural applications in aircraft and aerospace vehicles. Most recently, there has been increased demand, however, for ultrahigh-strength steel with superior plane-strain fracture toughness, K _IC, and for the steels suitable for large-sized structural applications; isotropy regarding the property has especially been required. One potential solution to this problem is to control nonmetallic inclusions of the steels. This review concentrates on recent topics concerning improved K _IC of ultrahigh-strength steels, i.e. low-alloy and highly alloyed secondary hardening steels, through control of non-metallic inclusions. The major factors controlling the property are discussed for each of the techniques.