Improved tensile properties of partially recrystallized submicron grained TWIP steel

The effects of cold rolling reduction and annealing temperature on the mechanical properties of twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steel have been investigated. The results indicated that the strengthening effect of unrecrystallized areas with a high density of nano-scale mechanical twins increased with increasing cold rolling reduction. In addition, the ductility also increased with increasing annealing temperature. Therefore, utilization of large cold rolling reduction and subsequently annealing treatment in the partial recrystallization region was suggested as an effective method to obtain submicron grained TWIP steel with an excellent combination of strength and ductility.     

The effect of low temperature annealing on the mechanical behavior of cold rolled dual-phase Twinning-Induced Plasticity steel

In recent years, Twinning-Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steels with high specific strength have been developed to mainly address the unsaturated demands of transportation industries for weight reduction. To achieve the exclusive mechanical properties of TWIP steels, the understanding of their thermomechanical processing (TMP) behavior is highly necessitated. In the present work, the influence of cold rolling and post-annealing treatments on the mechanical behavior of a new dual phase (γ + α) TWIP steel have been studied. The microstructural studies indicated the presence of deformation twins in the deformed state of material. Annealing the as-rolled experimental alloy could result in the formation of Widmanstätten austenite within the ferrite grains at 500 °C. The nearly constant yield stress at high annealing durations was attributed to the opposite effects of recovery and Widmanstätten austenite formation.     

Stacking fault energy and tensile deformation behavior of high-carbon twinning-induced plasticity steels: Effect of Cu addition

Three experimental fully austenitic high-carbon twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel grades were produced and the stacking fault energy (SFE) was investigated based on the thermodynamic modeling approach. The SFE of Fe–20Mn–xCu–1.3C (x = 0, 1.5 and 3.0) steels varied from 24.36 to 28.74 mJ m⁻² at room temperature. In order to study the correlation between the SFE and the mechanical behavior of TWIP steels, tensile tests were performed at room temperature and the deformed microstructures were examined at different strain levels by transmission electron microscopy. The Cu additions resulted in a remarkable increase in total elongation without a slight loss of tensile strength. In addition, the critical strain for serration start on the tensile stress–strain curves (i.e. required strain to generate mechanical twinning) was found to increase with increasing Cu content. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations also indicated that the occurrence of mechanical twinning was suppressed by increasing the Cu addition. The strain hardening mechanism and the superior ductility in deformation are dominated by the interaction of twins and dislocations. The mechanical behavior of TWIP steels is related to the Cu addition, the SFE, the interaction of twins and dislocations.     

Enhancing high-cycle fatigue properties of cold-drawn Fe–Mn–C TWIP steels

High-cycle fatigue properties of cold-drawn twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel, a favored candidate for replacing fully pearlitic (FP) steels in wire applications, were investigated. The high-cycle fatigue tests were conducted on cold-drawn TWIP and FP steels that had comparable ultimate tensile strength for comparison. Fatigue strength of both TWIP and FP steels increased with the tensile strength, but the TWIP steel cold-drawn to a tensile strength of 1.5 GPa exhibited a very low fatigue ratio (a ratio of fatigue strength to tensile strength) which deviated far from the predicted linear relationship. Fracture surface analysis showed that crack initiation mainly occurred at the ferrite matrix in FP steels, while either at grain or twin boundaries in TWIP steels where a large density of dislocations piled up during cold drawing. In the case of TWIP steels, the presence of inclusions at grain boundaries led to high local stress concentration and caused early intergranular fatigue cracking as notch sensitivity increased with tensile strength. Subsequent annealing after cold-drawing effectively increased fatigue strength of TWIP steels. It was suggested that TWIP steel revealing both high tensile strength and excellent high cycle fatigue strength could be a promising alternative for replacing conventional FP steels.     

不同热处理工艺对Fe-30Mn-3Si-4Al TWIP钢力学组织性能的影响

采用拉伸性能测试、金相观察、SEM和EDS等方法研究了不同热处理工艺对Fe-30Mn-3Si-4AlTWIP钢微观组织、拉伸力学性能及断口形貌的影响,并采用X射线衍射仪测定材料的物相组成。结果表明,冷却速度越快,TWIP钢的延伸率和强度越高;热处理后其室温组织为含有退火孪晶的单一奥氏体,冷却速度越小,奥氏体晶粒和退火孪晶的尺寸越大。拉伸时发生典型的延性断裂,在拉伸过程中退火孪晶转变成形变孪晶,使材料的塑性提高。     

单相组织TWIP钢的扩孔性研究

超高强钢的扩孔性能是冲压成形的重要性质.为评价980 MPa TWIP钢的扩孔性能,本文以单相铁素体IF钢和980 MPa双相钢作为参考材料,用扫描电镜观察了3个钢种的微观组织,并对3个钢种进行了拉伸实验和扩孔实验,采用背散射电子衍射(EBSD)技术分析了拉伸后和扩孔实验后TWIP钢的微观组织.实验结果表明:拉伸前TWIP钢呈现类似于IF钢均匀的单相奥氏体组织,而拉伸后TWIP钢呈现类似于DP钢不均匀的硬质变形孪晶奥氏体和软质奥氏体;扩孔后TWIP钢的开裂位置集中在奥氏体和变形孪晶奥氏体界面;虽然TWIP钢显现出更大的均匀伸长率和加工硬化,但扩孔率明显小于IF钢.TWIP钢扩孔率增加源于早期孪晶诱发塑性(TWIP效应)导致的均匀变形.同时,这种变形机制导致组织中的硬质变形孪晶奥氏体,硬质变形孪晶奥氏体与软质奥氏体匹配(类似于双相钢中马氏体铁素体匹配)将恶化局部变形,阻碍扩孔性能进一步提升.     

Enhancement of the mechanical properties of EN52CrMoV4 spring steel by deep cryogenic treatment

The effect of the deep cryogenic treatment on the micro-structure and mechanical properties (tensile strength, toughness, residual stress and fatigue strength) of the medium carbon spring steel, which is subjected to different heat treatment steps, is investigated. Deep cryogenic treatment causes spring steel to keep compressive residual stress more efficiently due to an increase in the density of the crystalline defects, retardation in the stress relief after the phase transformations and nano-cluster carbide formations. If deep cryogenic treatment is applied before the tempering then the homogeneously distributed fine carbides form after the tempering and the grains remain relatively fine. The microstructure with homogeneously distributed fine carbides and fine grains cause spring steels to have simultaneously enhanced tensile strength, ductility and fatigue strength. If deep cryogenic treatment is applied after the conventional heat treatment (quenching+tempering), however, the coarse carbides form in the micro-structure and the improvement in the mechanical properties of the spring steel is limited.     

The hot ductility of Nb/V containing high Al,TWIP steels

Abstract

The hot ductility of Nb/V containing high Al, twin induced plasticity (TWIP) steels has been examined over the temperature range 650–1150°C after melting and after ‘solution treatment’. Previous work had shown that the hot ductility is poor for the 1·5 mass-%Al, TWIP steel due to precipitation of AlN at the austenite grain boundaries, the depth of the trough being similar to that for an X65 grade pipeline steel but with the trough covering a much wider temperature range. Adding Nb and V made the ductility even worse due to the additional precipitation of NbCN and VN. Very low reduction of area values, 10–20% were obtained in the temperature range 700–900°C. Increasing the cooling rate to the test temperature resulted in even worse ductility. The ductility of these steels after ‘solution treatment’ is similar to that obtained after melting but when the cast was hot rolled followed by ‘solution treatment’ and cooling to the test temperature ductility improved due to grain refinement.     

定向凝固TWIP钢的微观组织及力学行为

利用液态金属冷却定向凝固技术,获得了柱晶TWIP钢试样,并对比研究了传统等轴晶与柱晶TWIP组织特征、基本力学行为及应变率敏感性。结果表明,定向凝固TWIP试样随着抽拉速率的减小枝晶间距增加,晶粒形貌简化。与传统试样相比,定向凝固试样沿着柱状晶纵向的综合力学性能明显提高,其中抽拉速率为120μm/s试样断裂延伸率及强塑积分别提高了30%及22.8%,两者的延伸率及强塑积随着应变率的增加均有所降低,而后者对应变率变化敏感性更低,意味着材料在遭受高速碰撞或冲击时,定向凝固试样仍能保持较高的能量吸收特性。     

On deformation twinning in a 17.5% Mn-TWIP steel: A physically based phenomenological model

TWinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel is a typical representative of the 2nd generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS) which exhibits a combination of high strength and excellent ductility due to the deformation twinning mechanisms. This paper discusses the principal features of deformation twinning in faced-centered cubic austenitic steels and shows how a physically based macroscopic model can be derived from microscopic-level considerations. In fact, a dislocation-based phenomenological model, with internal state variables including dislocation density and micro-twins volume fraction describing the microstructure evolution during deformation process, is proposed to model the deformation behavior of TWIP steels. The originality of this work lies in the incorporation of a physically based model on twin nucleation and volume fraction evolution in a conventional dislocation-based approach. Microstructural level experimental observations with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques together with the macroscopic quasi-static tensile test, for the TWIP steel Fe-17.5 wt.% Mn-1.4 wt.% Al-0.56 wt.% C, are used to validate and verify the modeling assumptions. The model could be regarded as a semi-phenomenological approach with sufficient links between microstructure and the overall mechanical properties, and therefore offers good predictive capabilities. Its simplicity also allows a modular implementation in finite element-based metal forming simulations.     

On the capability of severe plastic deformation of twining induced plasticity (TWIP) steel

There are few reports showing that severe plastic deformation of relatively high strength materials such as steels is difficult due to the segmented flow. In the present paper, it is shown that twining induced plasticity (TWIP) steel can be processed successfully by simple shear extrusion without segmentation. Two simple shear extrusion dies with the maximum distortion angle of 30° and 45° are considered. For comparison, TWIP steel is also processed by equal channel angular pressing at two strain rates. Results show that equal channel angular pressing leads to the segmented flow due to flow localization while simple shear extrusion has the capability of processing TWIP steel without cracking. The microstructure after one pass of simple shear extrusion consists of many deformation twins due to imposing large plastic strains into the material.     

Tensile deformation behavior of high manganese austenitic steel: The role of grain size

The tensile deformation behavior and microstructural evolutions of twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steel with the chemical composition of Fe–31Mn–3Al–3Si and average grain sizes in the range of 2.1–72.6 μm have been analyzed. For each grain size, the Hollomon analysis and also the Crussard–Jaoul (C–J) analysis as an alternative method to describe the work hardening behavior were investigated. The results indicated that the optimum mechanical properties as a function of work hardening capacity can be obtained by changing the grain size. The microstructural observations showed that the pile-ups of planar dislocations are necessary for triggering the mechanical twinning and grain refinement suppresses the mechanical twinning in TWIP steel. Furthermore, the mechanical twinning increases with increasing applied strain. As a result, a high instantaneous work hardening due to the mechanical twin boundaries enhances the uniform elongation. The contribution from the strain of twinning and hardening due to an increase in the hardness of the twinned regions (i.e., the Basinski mechanism) may be also useful in achieving the high strength–ductility in TWIP steels.     

Synergy effect of multi-strengthening mechanisms in FeMnCoCrN HEA at cryogenic temperature

High-entropy alloys(HEAs)have attracted great research interest owing to their good combination of high strength and ductility at both room and cryogenic temperatures.However,expensive raw mate-rials are always added to overcome the strength-ductility trade-off at low temperatures,leading to an increased production cost for the cryogenically used alloys.In this work,a series of nitrogen-doped FeMnCoCr HEAs have been processed by homogenization annealing,cold rolling and recrystallization annealing followed by water quenching.The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the alloys are studied systematically.The Fe49Mn30Co10Cr10N1 alloy shows excellent mechanical properties at both 293 K and 77 K.Particularly,the yield and ultimate tensile strength of 1078 and 1630 MPa are achieved at the cryogenic temperature,respectively,while a satisfactory uniform elongation of 33.5％is maintained.The ultrahigh yield strength results from the microstructure refinement caused by the acti-vation of athermal martensitic transformation and mechanical twinning that occur in the elastic regime together with the increased lattice friction due to the cryogenic environment.In the plastic regime,the dynamic Hall-Petch effect caused by twinning,martensitic transformation,and reverse transformation together with the high barrier to dislocation motion jointly contribute to the ultrahigh tensile strength.Simultaneously,the transformation induced plasticity(TRIP)and the twinning induced plasticity(TWIP)effects jointly contribute to the ductility.The design strategy for attaining superior mechanical properties at low temperatures,i.e.by adjusting stacking fault energy in the interstitial metastable HEAs,guides the development of high-performance and low-cost alloys for cryogenic applications.     

奥氏体不锈钢晶粒细化对形变机制和力学性能的影响

利用相逆转变原理采用冷变形使得亚稳奥氏体转变为形变马氏体,采用不同温度和时间退火分别获得纳米晶/超细晶和粗晶奥氏体不锈钢。通过拉伸实验得到不同晶粒尺寸的奥氏体不锈钢力学性能,采用透射电镜观察形变组织结构并利用扫描电镜观察断口特征。结果表明:高屈服强度纳米晶/超细晶奥氏体不锈钢通过形变孪晶获得优良塑性;而低屈服强度的粗晶奥氏体不锈钢发生形变诱导马氏体效应,得到良好的塑性;两组具有不同形变机制的奥氏体不锈钢拉伸断口均为韧性断裂。形变机制由形变孪晶转变为形变诱导马氏体归因于晶粒细化导致奥氏体稳定性大幅度提高。     

Dissimilar Resistance Spot Welding of Q&P and TWIP Steel Sheets

Dissimilar resistance spot welding of twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steel grades has been investigated by evaluating the effects of clamping force, welding current, and welding time on the microstructure, shear tension strength, and fracture of welded samples. The spot welding of TWIP and Q&P steels promotes the occurrence of an asymmetrical weld nugget with a greater dilution of TWIP steel because of its lower melting temperature and thermal conductivity. As a result, weld nuggets exhibit an austenitic microstructure. TWIP steel undergoes a grain coarsening in the HAZ, whereas Q&P steel undergoes some phase transformations. Welded samples tend to exhibit higher shear tension strength as they are joined at the highest welding current, even though an improper clamping force can promote excessive metal expulsion, thereby reducing the mechanical strength of the welded joints. Shear tension welded samples failed through interfacial fracture with partial thickness fracture mode for a low welding current, while partial thickness with button pull fractures were observed when a high welding current was used. The weld spots predominantly failed at the TWIP side. However, as TWIP steel can work harden significantly in the more resistant welded joints, the failures occur, instead, at the Q&P side.     

Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder

The effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the performance of steels and alloys has attracted wide attention in the past decades. Deep cryogenic treatment can improve the strength and hardness of steel at room temperature, provide microstructure stability and improve wear or fatigue resistance of material. In the current study, the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solders are investigated. The influence to microstructure, tensile strength and ductility improvement are discussed. Experimental analysis shows that the tensile strength of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder increases from 36.76 to 46.27 MPa after 600 h of deep cryogenic treatment at 77 K (??196 °C), the observed strength-time relation is similar to the Taylor theory for the yield strength and dislocation density. Large particles presented in the fracture of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu samples are caused by the high cooling rate as well as the concentration difference between the β-Sn and the eutectic system. The precipitated Ag₃Sn particles exhibit relatively uniform distribution in deep cryogenic treated Sn-rich matrix, and the size of Ag₃Sn particles becomes smaller with longer deep cryogenic treatment time. It is noted that deep cryogenic treatment can increase the internal stress and the dislocation density, higher dislocation density and good ductility lead to movement of the pre-existing dislocations and specific dislocation configurations. Microscopic experiments on solder joints were performed to investigate the microstructure change. The Intermetallic layers were measured which showed negligible change in thickness. A unified creep and plasticity constitutive model is proposed to simulate the stress–strain relationship under deep cryogenic treatment, the predictions show good agreement compared with experimental results.     

The effects of heat treatment variables on the microstructure and properties of ultra-high strength steels differing in titanium content

The influences of different austenitizing and tempering temperatures on the microstructure and properties of three experimental ultra-high strength steels (UHS) have been investigated. The steels had different Ti content and were subjected to austenitizing treatment at 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200°C followed by oil quench and tempering at 200, 300, 450 and 600 °C. It has been found that the high temperature (1100 and 1200 °C) austenitizing treatments, alter both microstructure and properties, and depending on the subsequent tempering temperature, may have a beneficial or detrimental influence upon the mechanical properties. Addition of up to 0.011 wt% Ti to the steel composition improves hardness, toughness and tensile strength. This improvement in mechanical properties is obtainable with any subsequent heat treatment. For higher Ti content (0.089 wt%), although some further improvement in hardness and tensile strength was obtained, significant degradation in toughness was achieved, particularly when the steel was subjected to high temperature austenitizing and tempering treatment.     

Effect of interfacial bonding strength on tensile ductility of multilayered steel composites

The effect of the bonding strength of the laminate interface on ductility in the tensile deformation of multilayered steel composites was investigated. Multilayered steel composites consisting of alternating layers of as-quenched martensitic and austenitic steels were prepared with various bonding strengths, ranging from weak bonding obtained by alpha-cyanoacrylate adhesive to strong bonding obtained by cold rolling with a subsequent heat treatment. Tensile tests and peel tests were conducted to investigate the relationship between tensile behavior and bonding strength at the interface. It was demonstrated that tensile ductility could be markedly enhanced as the bonding strength increased, and that three types of tensile fracture behavior were identified depending on the bonding strength of the interface.     

Effects of Al addition on high strain rate deformation of fully austenitic high Mn steels

The effects of Al addition on dynamic flow response of the fully austenitic high Mn steel were investigated by conducting high strain rate compression tests on Fe-22Mn-xAl-0.6C steels (x = 0, 3, 6 in wt.%). While dynamic yield strength of the 0 Al steel and the 3 Al steel were comparable, the 6 Al steel exhibited the highest one. Meanwhile, strain hardenability of the 0 Al steel was the highest and that of other two steels was nearly same. Under the present dynamic loading, no obvious dynamic recrystallization by adiabatic heating was observed in all steels. Fully compressed microstructures revealed (a) ?-martensite and mechanical twin bands for the 0 Al steel, (b) multi-layer deformation bands and mechanical twin bands for the 3 Al steel, and (c) a variety of dislocation configurations such as the directional slip traces, tangled dislocations, and incomplete dislocation cells for the 6 Al steel. These findings inform that dynamic flow of the 0 Al steel was associated with both TRIP and TWIP, and that of other two steels was dominated by dislocation gliding - mainly, planar glide for the 3 Al steel and the combination of both planar glide and wavy glide for the 6 Al steel. The dynamic flow response of the present steels was discussed in terms of the stacking fault energy affected by the Al content and adiabatic heating during dynamic loading and of the strain rate effect on the critical stress for mechanical twinning.     

Effect of cryogenic treatment on tensile behavior of case carburized steel-815M17

The crown wheel and pinion represent the most highly stressed parts of a heavy vehicle; these are typically made of 815M17 steel. The reasons for the frequent failure of these components are due to tooth bending impact, wear and fatigue. The modern processes employed to produce these as high, durable components include cryogenic treatment as well as conventional heat treatment. It helps to convert retained austenite into martensite as well as promote carbide precipitation. This paper deals with the influence of cryogenic treatment on the tensile behavior of case carburized steel 815M17. The impetus for studying the tensile properties of gear steels is to ensure that steels used in gears have sufficient tensile strength to prevent failure when gears are subjected to tensile or fatigue loads, and to provide basic design information on the strength of 815M17 steel. A comparative study on the effects of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT), shallow cryogenic treatment (SCT) and conventional heat treatment (CHT) was made by means of tension testing. This test was conducted as per ASTM standard designation E 8M. The present results confirm that the tensile behavior is marginally reduced after cryogenic treatment (i.e. both shallow and deep cryogenic treatment) for 815M17 when compared with conventional heat treatment. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis of the fracture surface indicates the presence of dimples and flat fracture regions are more common in SCT specimens than for CHT and DCT-processed material.