Fractal Characteristics and Prediction of Ti-15-3 Alloy Recrystallized Microstructure

Grain shape of the hot deforming alloy is an important of material. The fractal theory was applied to analyze index to character the microstructure and performance the recrystallized microstructure of Ti-15-3 alloy after hot deformation and solution treatment. The fractal dimensions of recrystallized grains were calculated by slit island method. The influence of processing parameters on fractal dimension and grain size was studied, It has been shown that the shapes of recrystallized grain boundaries are self-similar, and the fractal dimension varies from 1 to 2. With increasing deformation degree and strain rate or decreasing deformation temperature, the fractal dimension of grain boundaries increased and the grain size decreased. So the fractal dimension could characterize the grain shape and size. A neural network model was trained to predict the fractal dimension of recrystallized microstructure and the result is in excellent agreement with the experimental data.

Microstructure and Deformation Behavior of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al Alloy during Hot Forming Process

The microstructure evolution and formability of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy related to the initial microstructures and processing variables were investigated during hot forming process. The experimental results show that the α-phase growth is controlled by solute diffusion during the heat treatment processes. Four different microstructures were established by combinations of several heat treatments, and Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy shows excellent formability both above and below the β transus temperature. The alloy possesses low deformation resistance and active restoration mechanism during the deformation. A constitutive equation describing the hot deformation behavior of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy was obtained. Higher fl ow stress was observed for the acicular morphology of α phase in microstructures with large aspect ratios as compared with that of small aspect ratios. Due to the dynamic recovery in soft β phase, and the dynamic recrystallization and breakage of acicular α-phase, fl ow softening occurred signifi cantly during deformation. Dynamic recrystallization also occurred especially in the severely deformed regions of forged parts.

Microstructural evolution of a superaustenitic stainless steel during a two-step deformation process

Single-and two-step hot compression experiments were carried out on 16Cr25Ni6Mo superaustenitic stainless steel in the temperature range from 950 to 1150°C and at a strain rate of 0.1 s^（-1）. In the two-step tests, the first pass was interrupted at a strain of 0.2; after an interpass time of 5, 20, 40, 60, or 80 s, the test was resumed. The progress of dynamic recrystallization at the interruption strain was less than 10%. The static softening in the interpass period increased with increasing deformation temperature and increasing interpass time. The static recrystallization was found to be responsible for fast static softening in the temperature range from 950 to 1050°C. However, the gentle static softening at 1100 and 1150°C was attributed to the combination of static and metadynamic recrystallizations. The correlation between calculated fractional softening and microstructural observations showed that approximately 30% of interpass softening could be attributed to the static recovery. The microstructural observations illustrated the formation of fine recrystallized grains at the grain boundaries at longer interpass time. The Avrami kinetics equation was used to establish a relationship between the fractional softening and the interpass period. The activation energy for static softening was determined as 276 kJ/mol.

Microstructural evolution during ultra-rapid annealing of severely deformed low-carbon steel: strain, temperature, and heating rate effects

An interaction between ferrite recrystallization and austenite transformation in low-carbon steel occurs when recrystallization is delayed until the intercritical temperature range by employing high heating rate. The kinetics of recrystallization and transformation is affected by high heating rate and such an interaction. In this study, different levels of strain are applied to low-carbon steel using a severe plastic deformation method. Then, ultra-rapid annealing is performed at different heating rates of 200–1100°C/s and peak temperatures of near critical temperature. Five regimes are proposed to investigate the effects of heating rate, strain, and temperature on the interaction between recrystallization and transformation. The microstructural evolution of severely deformed low-carbon steel after ultra-rapid annealing is investigated based on the proposed regimes. Regarding the intensity and start temperature of the interaction, different microstructures consisting of ferrite and pearlite/martensite are formed. It is found that when the interaction is strong, the microstructure is refined because of the high kinetics of transformation and recrystallization. Moreover, strain shifts an interaction zone to a relatively higher heating rate. Therefore, severely deformed steel should be heated at relatively higher heating rates for it to undergo a strong interaction.

Characterizing microstructure and texture after recrystallization annealing of Hi-B steel with simutaneous decarburization and nitriding

How to manufacture the high magnetic induction grain-oriented silicon steel（Hi-B steel）by the process featured with the primary recrystallization annealing was demonstrated,during which nitriding and decarburizing were simultaneously realized in laboratory.By the techniques of optical microscope,scanning electronic microscope and electron backscattered diffraction,both the microstructure and the texture in the samples were characterized.The samples had been subjected to nitriding to different nitrogen contents at two specified temperatures using the two defined microstructural parameters：the grain size inhomogeneity factorσ＊and the texture factor AR.The former is the ratio of the mean value to standard deviation of grain sizes;the latter is the ratio of the total volume fraction of the harmful textures to that of beneficial textures including {110}〈001〉.When the N content increased from 0.0055%to 0.0330%after the annealing at both 835 and 875°C,the resultant recrystallized grain size decreased butσ＊changed little;whilst the rise of annealing temperature from 835 to 875°C resulted in the increase in both grain size andσ＊.Moreover,either the injected N content or temperature had insignificant influence on the components of primary recrystallization texture developed during annealing.However,the increase of temperature led to the decreases in both intensity and volume fraction of{001}〈120〉and{110}〈001〉textures but increases in the{114}〈481〉andγfiber textures and the resultant decrease of AR.

Dynamic Recrystallization Behavior of Bimodal Size SiCpReinforced Mg Matrix Composite during Hot Deformation

The（submicron＋micron） bimodal size Si Cp-reinforced Mg matrix composite was compressed at the temperature of 270–420 °C and strain rate of 0.001–1 s^-1. Then, dynamic recrystallization（DRX） behavior of the composite was investigated by thermodynamic method and verified by microstructure analysis. Results illustrated that the composite possess the lower critical strain and higher DRX ratio as compared to monolithic Mg alloys during hot deformation process. The predicted DRX ratio increased with the proceeding of compression, which was well consistent with the experimental value. Results from thermodynamic calculation suggested that the occurrence of DRX could be promoted by Si Cp, which would be further proved by microstructure analysis. Formation of particle deformation zone around micron Si Cp played a significant role in promoting DRX nucleation. Nevertheless, the distribution of submicron Si Cp was increasingly uniform with the proceeding of compression, which could fully restrain grain growth. Therefore, the corporate effects of micron and submicron Si Cp on DRX contributed to the improvement of DRXed ratio and the refinement of grain size for the composite during compression process.

Microstructural characteristics of cold-rolled Zr-2.5Nb alloy annealed near the monotectoid temperature

A dual-phase Zr-2.5 Nb alloy was rolled at room temperature to 50% reduction and then annealed at two temperatures(560 and580°C) near the monotectoid temperature. X-ray diffraction, electron channeling contrast imaging and electron backscatter diffraction techniques were jointly used to characterize microstructural characteristics developed in the as-rolled and annealed specimens. Results show that plastic deformation occurs in both bulk α-Zr grains and thin β-Zr films during rolling, allowing large lattice strains to be accumulated in β-Zr and active dislocation slip(especially the prismatic áa?slip) to be initiated in α-Zr. During subsequent annealing at 580°C, the prior β-Zr films are transformed into submicron β-Zr particles, which lose coherency(the Burgers orientation relationship) with surrounding α grains. In the specimen annealed at 560°C, however, the prior β-Zr films are found to be decomposed into nanoscale β-Nb particles. In both the annealed specimens, the β-Zr and the β-Nb particles appeared to be linearly distributed along the rolling direction. Two types of α structures, i.e., small equiaxed crystallites formed by recovery of dislocation structures and coarse bamboo-like recrystallized grains, are revealed in the annealed specimens. Effective boundary pinning due to the dense β-phase particles is demonstrated to play a key role in forming such unusual bamboo-like grains.

Static recrystallization behavior of 25CrMo4 mirror plate steel during two-pass hot deformation

The static recrystallization behavior of 25CrMo4 mirror plate steel has been determined by hot compression testing on a Gleeble 1500 thermal mechanical simulation tester. Compression tests were performed using double hit schedules at temperatures of 950-- 1 150 ~C, strain rates of 0.01--0.5 s-1 , and recrystallization time of 1--100 s. Results show that the kinetics of static recrystallization and the microstructural evolution were greatly influenced by the deformation parameters （deformation temperature, strain rate and pre strain） and the initial austenite grain size. Based on the experimental results, the kinetics model of static recrystallization has been generated and the comparison between the experimental results and the predicted results has been carried out. It is shown that the predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental results.

Static Recrystallization Behavior of SA508-III Steel during Hot Deformation

The static recrystallization behavior of SA508-III steel was investigated by isothermal double-hit hot compression tests at the deformation temperature of 950-1 250 ℃,the strain rate of 0. 01-1 s^（-1）,and the inter-pass time of 1-300 s.The effects of deformation parameters,including forming temperature,strain rate,degree of deformation（ pre-strain） and initial austenite grain size,on the softening kinetics were analyzed. Experimental results show that static recrystallization kinetics is strongly dependent on deformation temperature and degree of deformation,while less affected by the strain rate and initial grain size. The kinetics and microstructural evolution equations of static recrystallization for SA508-III steel were developed to predict the softening behavior and the statically recrystallized grain size,respectively. Based on the comparison between the experimental and predicted results,it is found that the established equations can give a reasonable estimate of the static softening behavior for SA508-III steel.

Grain refinement of non-magnetic austenitic steels during asymmetrical hot rolling process

Asymmetrical hot rolling（ASHR） was proposed to acquire productive grain refinement for Fe-20Mn-4Al-0.3C and Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.5N non-magnetic austenitic steels. The intensive additional shear deformation caused by ASHR promotes the nucleation of recrystallization and grain refining of steel plates. With the speed ratio of 1.2, the austenitic grains were refined to ~5 m on the surface, the recrystallization fraction was enhanced to ~34.7%, and the thickness of fine-grained surface layer increases to ~450m for Fe-20Mn-4Al-0.3 C steel. The Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.5N steel also exhibited an effective surface grain refinement with an average size of ~3μm, and the recrystallization fraction reached ~76.9% at the speed ratio of 1.15.