Strengthening and toughening mechanism of a Cu-bearing high-strength low-alloy steel with refined tempered martensite/bainite(M/B)matrix and minor inter-critical ferrite

The microstructure–mechanical property relationship of a Cu-bearing low-carbon high-strength low-alloy steel,subjected to a novel multistage heat treatment including quenching(Q),lamellarization(L)and tempering(T),is presented.Yield strength of 989.5 MPa and average toughness at-80℃of 41 J were obtained in this steel after quenching and tempering(QT)heat treatments.Specimen QLT gained a little lower yield strength(982.5 MPa),but greatly enhanced average toughness at-80℃(137 J).To further clarify the strengthening and toughening mechanisms in specimen QLT,parameters of microstructural characteristic and crack propagation process were compared and analyzed for specimens Q,QL,QT and QLT.The microstructure of tempered martensite/bainite(M/B)in specimen QT changed to refined tempered M/B matrix mixed with minor IF(inter-critical ferrite)in specimen QLT.Cu-rich precipitates existed in tempered M/B for both specimens QT and QLT,as well as in IF.Compared with QT,adding a lamellarization step before tempering made the effective grains of specimen QLT refined and also led to coarser Cu-rich precipitates in tempered M/B matrix.The weaker strengthening effect of coarser Cu-rich precipitates should be a key reason for the slightly lower yield strength in specimen QLT than in specimen QT.No austenite was found in all specimens Q,QL,QT and QLT.Specimen QLT showed purely ductile fracture mode at-80℃due to the refined effective grains.The greatly improved toughness is mainly attributed to the enhanced energy of crack propagation.The combination of refined microstructure,softened matrix and deformation of minor'soft'IF during crack propagation led to the most superior toughness of specimen QLT among all specimens.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Precipitation Strengthened Fire Resistant Steel Containing High Nb and Low Mo

Through the thermo-mechanical control process （TMCP）, a high Nb low Mo fire resistant steel with the yield strength （YS） of 521 MPa at room temperature （RT） and 360 MPa at elevated temperature （ET） of 600 ℃ was developed based on MX （M=Nb, V, Mo; X=C,N） precipitation strengthening. A series of tensile and con- stant load tests were conducted to study the mechanical properties at ET. The dynamic continuous cooling transfor- mation （CCT） as well as precipitation behavior of microalloy carbonitride was investigated by means of thermal sim- ulator and electron microscopy approaches. Results showed that the failure temperature of tested steel was deter- mined as 653 ℃, and the granular bainite was obtained when the cooling rate was higher than 10 ℃/s. In the rolled state, a certain amount of M/A islands was observed. During heating from RT to ET, M/A islands disappeared, and cementites and high dense compound precipitates （Nb, Mo, V）C with size of less than 10 nm precipitated in ferrite at ET （600 ℃）, which resulted in precipitation strengthening at ET.

Effect of dissolved niobium on eutectoid transformation behavior

The effect of dissolved niobium on the eutectoid transformation behavior in near-eutectoid high-carbon steels has been studied.Dissolved niobium is important in the eutectoid transformation behavior.It increases the eutectoid carbon content significantly（by^0.0477% per 0.00001% dissolved niobium）,increases the hardenability of steel markedly,yields finer,more uniform,polygonal proeutectoid ferrite,induces a transition in morphology of eutectoid cementite from lamellar to somewhat spheroidal,and increases the misorientation angle of pearlite colonies from being focused near 0°to near 60°.

Effect of modifying matrix microstructures and nanosized precipitates on strengthening mechanisms and ductile-to-brittle-transitiontemperature in a 1000 MPa Ni-Cr-Mo-Cu steel

A superior combination of yield strength(1001 MPa)and-20℃ impact toughness(166 J)was obtained in Nb-V-Timicroalloyed Ni-Cr-Mo-Cu steel treated by direct quenching and tempering route(DQT).The tested steels treated by DQT route and re-austenitization and tempering route(QT)were compared with each other in terms of mechanical properties and microstructures characterized by optical microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,electron back-scattered diffraction method and so on.Strength and Vickers hardness of the tested steel treated by the above two routes vary with isothermal aging temperature(400-600℃),shown as under-aged state,peak-aged state and overaged state.All DQT specimens show higher strength and Vickers hardness than QT specimens with the same aging condition.Furthermore,the largest difference of yield strength between DQT and QT specimens was shown in DQT600 and QT600 specimens.DQT600 or QT600 specimens refers to direct quenched(DQ)or quenched(Q)specimens isothermally aged at 600℃.The main disparities in quenched microstructure between DQ and Q specimens are mainly in morphology of prior austenite grains,dislocation density of martensite matrix and solution amount of Nb and Mo elements dissolving in martensite matrix,which play key roles in affecting microstructure and mechanical properties of DQT and QT specimens.Higher dislocation density of matrix and finer average diameter of both MC(M is any combination of Nb,Mo and V)and Cu-rich particles were shown in DQT600 specimens than in QT600 specimens.Strengthening from dislocations and nanosized MC and Cu-rich particles mainly leads to the largest difference of yield strength between DQT600 and QT600 specimens.In addition,strong dislocation strengthening and precipitation strengthening in DQT600 specimen also elevated its ductile-to-brittle-transition-temperature,compared with QT600 specimen.