An upper-shelf fracture toughness master curve for ferritic steels

When assessing the resistance of a steel structure to failure under load, fracture toughness is a key input variable. Since it is usually not possible to establish a priori if the anticipated service temperature (or temperatures) is in the fracture mode transition or on the upper shelf, it is useful to know the temperature dependence of fracture toughness in both the transition and on the upper shelf. In the transition, the master curve proposed by Wallin defines both the variation of the median value of fracture toughness with temperature and the scatter of fracture toughness about this median value. However, Wallin's master curve does not quantify fracture toughness on the upper shelf. In this paper we assemble a database of upper shelf fracture toughness data (J_Ic) for ferritic steels. These data demonstrate that the temperature dependence of upper J_Ic is consistent for all ferritic steels contained in the database and has the same form as the temperature dependence of the flow strength anticipated from dislocation mechanics considerations. This similarity between the temperature dependence of flow strength and the temperature dependence of J_Ic is physically expected because both directly depend upon the energy required for dislocation mobility in the ferrite matrix. Both the empirically derived model and the physical basis for the model are described.     

Mechanism of effects of warm prestressing (WPS) on apparent toughness of notched steel specimens Part II: Calculations and analyses

Based on the experimental results of Part I of present work, this paper describes results of FEM calculations and analyses in details which identified that the effect of tensile-warm pre-stressing (WPS) on improvement of the apparent toughness of notched specimens results from three factors i.e. the residual compressive stress, macroscopic blunting of the original notch, and prestrain-deactivating cleavage initiation. The effects of three factors are separated and is effective for each at various extents of prestressing specified with a prestress-ratio, P₀/P_gy, defining the prestressing load P₀ as a fraction of general yield load P_gy. For values of prestress-ratio lower than 1.0, the residual compressive stress acts as the main factor. Between 1.0 to 1.5 of prestress-ratio values, in addition to the residual compressive stress the macroscopic blunting plays increasing role. The effect of the prestrain-deactivating cleavage initiation presents at the prestress-ratio P₀/P_gy1.2. In the case of compressive-warm prestressing, the apparent toughness is deteriorated due to the residual tensile stress. The effects of complex cycles of WPS, with various steps of loading and unloading different in signs, are determined mainly by the loading step just before the fracturing step.     

Effect of nitrogen and vanadium on austenite grain growth kinetics of a low alloy steel

Austenite grain growth kinetics in a steel containing 0.4% C, 1.8% Cr with different nitrogen contents (in the range 0.0038–0.0412%) and a micralloying addition of 0.078% V were investigated. The investigations were carried out in an austenitising temperature range of 840–1200 °C for 30 min. The results of investigations showed that N promotes the grain growth of austenite. The microalloying addition of vanadium protects the austenite grain growth because of carbonitride V(C,N) precipitation and the grain boundary pinning effect of undissolved particles of V(C,N). Using a thermodynamic model, the carbonitride V(C,N) content, undissolved at the austenitising temperature was calculated. At temperatures when a coarsening and dissolution of carbonitride occurs, the austenite grains start to growth. The effect of nitrogen on the type of chord length distribution of austenite grains was analysed.     

Influence of hot rolling and heat treatment on structure and properties of HSLA steel explosively clad with austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The present work aims at studying structure–property correlations in an explosively clad HSLA steel with austenitic stainless steel of AISI 304L grade. The clad plate was subjected to hot rolling followed by a quenching and tempering treatment to achieve better mechanical properties in the base plate. Optical microscopy studies revealed that the interface between the two steels was wavy in the as clad plate and the waviness decreased substantially due to hot rolling. Subsequent heat treatment has not shown any significant effect either. The base plate had tempered martensite/bainite structure in as clad or heat treated conditions and ferrite-pearlite-bainite structure in hot rolled condition. The grains were finer and elongated near the interface. The stainless steel exhibited equiaxed grain structure in as clad, hot rolled or heat treated plates. Tensile properties and charpy impact energy of the base plate were lowered due to hot rolling and then increased substantially due to heat treatment. The microhardness was observed to be a maximum at the bond interface for all three conditions studied. The shear bond strength was the highest in the as clad condition and decreased for the rolled as well as heat treated conditions. Scanning electron microscopy fractography on shear bond specimens revealed the presence of predominantly equiaxed dimples with few regions of rubbed fracture. Quantitative electron probe microanalysis across the bond interface indicated linear change in concentrations of nickel, chromium and manganese between the levels appropriate to the clad layer and base metal.     

Systematic investigation of acicular ferrite formation on laboratory scale

By increasing the amount of acicular ferrite (AF) in the microstructure, steel toughness can be improved significantly. The steel composition, cooling rate, non-metallic inclusions and austenite grain size have a strong influence on the formation of AF. The present paper describes and compares two approaches to study AF formation in a titanium-deoxidised high-strength low-alloyed steel and its influencing factors on laboratory scale: route A simulates the formation of AF after heat treatment; route B simulates the formation directly after solidification of the melt. The formation of AF is essentially influenced by the former processing, which also changes the optimum cooling parameters substantially. (Ti,Mn)_xO_y and (Ti,Al,Mn)_xO_yS_z are the predominant active inclusion types in the investigated steel.     

铜对低碳HSLA钢力学性能的影响

研究了不同铜含量对低碳ＨＳＬＡ钢力学性能的影响。结果表明,铜能显著提高该钢的强度,但降低该钢的韧性。铜含量对ＨＳＬＡ钢强韧性的作用受时效温度的影响,提高时效温度可使不同铜含量的ＨＳＬＡ钢的强韧性差异减小。     

Effect of direct quenching on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the lean-chemistry HSLA-100 steel plates

The influence of direct quenching on structure-property behavior of lean chemistry HSLA-100 steels was studied. Two laboratory heats, one containing Cu and Nb (C:0.052, Mn:0.99, Cu:1.08, Nb:0.043, Cr:0.57, Ni:1.76, Mo:0.55 pct) and the other containing Cu, Nb and B (C:0.04, Mn:1.02, Cu:1.06, Nb:0.036, Cr:0.87, Ni:1.32, Mo:0.41, B:0.002 percent) were hot-rolled into 25 and 12.5 mm thick plates by varying finish-rolling temperatures. The plates were heat-treated by conventional reheat quenching and tempering (RQT), as well as by direct quenching and tempering (DQT) techniques. In general, direct-quench and tempered plates of Nb-Cu heat exhibited good strength (yield strength ∼ 900 MPa) and low-temperature impact toughness (average: 74 J at −85 °C); the Charpy V-notch impact energies were marginally lower than conventional HSLA-100 steel. In Nb-Cu-B heat, impact toughness at low-temperature was inferior owing to boron segregation at grain boundaries. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning auger microprobe (SAM) analysis confirmed existence of borocarbides at grain boundaries in this steel. In general, for both the steels, the mechanical properties of the direct-quench and tempered plates were found to be superior to reheat quench and tempered plates. A detailed transmission electron microscopy study revealed presence of fine Cu and Nb (C, N) precipitates in these steels. It was also observed that smaller martensite inter-lath spacing, finer grains and precipitates in direct-quench and tempered plates compared to the reheat quench and tempered plates resulted in their superior strength and good impact toughness.     

Modeling of failure mode of laser welds in lap-shear specimens of HSLA steel sheets

Failure mode of laser welds in lap-shear specimens of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel sheets is investigated in this paper. The experiments for laser welds in lap-shear specimens under quasi-static loading conditions are briefly reviewed first. The experimental results showed that the laser welds failed in a ductile necking/shear failure mode and the ductile failure was initiated at a distance away from the crack tip near the boundary of the base metal and heat affected zone. In order to understand the failure mode of these welds, finite element analyses under plane strain conditions were conducted to identify the effects of the different plastic behaviors of the base metal, heat affected zone, and weld zone as well as the weld geometry on the ductile failure. The results of the reference finite element analysis based on the homogenous material model show that the failure mode is most likely to be a middle surface shear failure mode in the weld. The results of the finite element analysis based on the multi-zone non-homogeneous material models show that the higher effective stress–plastic strain curves of the weld and heat affected zones and the geometry of the weld protrusion result in the necking/shear failure mode in the load carrying sheet. The results of another finite element analysis based on the non-homogeneous material model and the Gurson yield function for porous materials indicate that the consideration of void nucleation and growth is necessary to identify the ductile failure initiation site that matches well with the experimental observations. Finally, the results of this investigation indicate that the failure mode of the welds should be examined carefully and the necking/shear failure mode needs to be considered for development of failure or separation criteria for welds under more complex loading conditions.     

连续退火工艺对低硅型冷轧低合金高强钢板力学性能的影响

利用多功能连续退火模拟器Multipas对屈服强度为380MPa的低硅型冷轧低合金高强钢板连续退火生产工艺进行了模拟,研究了在820,800,780℃三种不同退火温度和60,120,160m·min^-1三种不同退火速度下,连退工艺对冷轧低合金高强钢板组织、力学性能的影响.结果表明,在不同的退火温度、退火速度下钢板退火组织的晶粒度基本相同,采用较低的退火温度和较高的退火速度时,可获得较好的强化效果.同时指出,在较高的连续退火温度下,退火速度对力学性能的影响较为显著.     

1 300 MPa级超高强钢临界粗晶热影响区组织和韧性

采用热模拟和显微金相、显微硬度检测等技术研究了1 400 MPa级低合金超高强钢的奥氏体化相变温度、冷却时间t_8/5对其焊接热影响区粗晶区组织和性能的影响。结果表明,试验钢奥氏体化开始温度A_c1为710 ℃,奥氏体化结束温度A_c3为820 ℃;随着t_8/5的增大,热影响区粗晶区的组织由全部为板条马氏体转变为粒状贝氏体+板条马氏体的混合组织,再转变为全部粒状贝氏体组织,最终转变为贝氏体 + 珠光体 + 铁素体组织;随着t_8/5的增大,显微硬度从500 HV5逐渐降至250 HV5,而试验钢母材硬度值范围为502～523 HV5,因此在t_8/5较大时,即在较大的焊接热输入条件下,1 400 MPa级低合金超高强钢软化现象严重,焊接过程应严格控制焊接热输入。