Microstructural Transformation and Precipitation of an Ultra-high Strength Steel under Continuous Cooling

We investigated phase transition and precipitation of ultra-high strength steel（UHSS）in a new ＂short process＂ with controlled rolling and controlled cooling.Thermalexpansion test combined with metallographic observation was used to research the continuous cooling transformation（CCT）curve.Moreover,the microstructuraltransformation and precipitation law was revealed by morphologicalobservation and alloying elements by electron probe micro-analyzer（EPMA）.Transmission electron microscopy（TEM）was utilized to analyze the composition and grain orientation of microstructure.The study showed that the measured criticaltransformation temperatures of Ac1 and Ac3 were 746 and 868 ℃,respectively.The CCT curve indicated that the undercooled austenite was transformed into proeutectoid ferrite and bainite with HV 520 in a broad range of cooling rate 0.1^（-1） ℃·s^（-1）.When subjected to a cooling rate of 1 ℃·s^（-1）,the undercooled austenite was divided into small-sized blocks by formed martensite.With further increase of cooling rate,micro-hardness increased dramatically,the microstructure of specimen was mainly lathe bainite（LB）,granular bainite（GB）,lath martensite（LM）and residualaustenite.By diffraction test analysis,it was identified that there was K-S orientation relationship between martensite and austenite for {110}_α//{111}_γ,{111}_α//{101}_γ.EPMA clearly showed that carbon diffused adequately due to staying for a long time at high temperature with a lower cooling rate of 2 ℃·s-1.Phase transition drive force was lower and the residualaustenite existed in the block form of Martensite austenite island（M-A）.With the increase of cooling rate to 10 ℃·s^（-1）,the block residualaustenite reduced,the carbon content of residualaustenite increased and α phase around the residualaustenite formed into a low carbon bainite form.

Effect of Microstructure on Corrosion Fatigue Behavior of 1500 MPa Level Carbide-Free Bainite/Martensite Dual-Phase High Strength Steel

Influence of microstructure of the experimental steels on the corrosion fatigue behavior in 3.5% of NaCl aqueous solution was studied.Experimental results show that compared with the full martensite（FM）steel,the carbide-free bainite/martensite（CFB/M）steel has higher corrosion fatigue strength and corrosion fatigue crack threshold（ΔKthcf）,and lower corrosion crack propagation rate [（da/dN）cf].

Research and modeling on correlation among microstructure,yield strength and process of bainite/martensite steel

The contributions of different strengthening mechanisms to yield strength of bainite/martensite multiphase rail steel with different finish cooling temperatures in the controlled cooling process were quantitatively investigated.Dislocation density and substructure size of the rail steel were measured by scanning electron microscopy,electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction.The results show that the dislocation density increases with the decrease in block width in rail steel.Based on the correlation among dislocation density,block width and yield strength,a physical model was proposed to predict the yield strength of rail steel.The variation of block width and dislocation density in different positions of rail head microstructure was integrated with temperature field simulation.Dislocation density and block width reveal significant correlations with the finish cooling temperature.

Thermo-stability of ultra-fine non-equilibrium microstructures

The evolution of the microstructures and hardness of a bainitic plate steelduring tempering at 650 deg C has been investigated. The steel was manufactured by RFC(relaxation-precipitation controlling phase transformation) technique. A part of the plate wasreheated to 930 deg C and held for 1 h before quenched into water (RQ). No obvious change wasdetected by means of optical microscopy in the RFC steel tempering for 0.5 h, while dislocationcells were formed inside the bainite laths, accompanied by an obvious drop of hardness. The bainitelaths started to coalesce in some regions, but the sample hardness kept nearly constant duringtempering from 1 to 7 h. With further tempering, polygonal ferrite was formed in local regions whilethe hardness decreased dramatically. The RQ samples softened faster during tempering and finallytransformed into the polygonal ferrite completely. These results indicate that the thermo-stabilityof fine non-equilibrium microstructures is tightly related to their history.

Evaluation of factors affecting the edge formability of two hot rolled multiphase steels

In this study, the effect of various factors on the hole expansion ratio and hence on the edge formability of two hot rolled multiphase steels, one with a ferrite–martensite microstructure and the other with a ferrite-bainite microstructure, was investigated through systematic microstructural and mechanical characterization. The study revealed that the microstructure of the steels, which determines their strain hardening capacity and fracture resistance, is the principal factor controlling edge formability. The influence of other factors such as tensile strength, ductility, anisotropy, and thickness, though present, are secondary. A critical evaluation of the available empirical models for hole expansion ratio prediction is also presented.

Effect of Thermomechanical Treatment Temperature on Structure and Properties of CFB/M Ultra-High Strength Steel

Modified CCT diagram of carbide-flee bainite-martensite （CFB/M） ultra-high strength steel was established by applying controlled cooling of small samples. In addition, the influence of thermomechanical treatment tem- perature on the structure and properties was discussed. The experimental results showed that when deformed at 860℃ and below, ferrite transformation occurred due to strain. With the decrease of ausforming temperature, the quantity of ferrite increased and strength and toughness were deteriorated. Therefore, certain information was provided for optimizing technical parameter of ausforming process., firstly, the thermomechanical treatment temperature should not be lower than 860 ℃ in order to avoid ferrite formation induced by deformation; secondly, rapid cooling rate is also significant after deformation in order to avoid ferrite precipitation during subsequent cooling stage.