Relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties of resistance spot welded joint of spring steel

Based on mechanical properties tests and microstructures investigations, the relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties of resistance spot welded joints of spring steel is studied. The agglomeration of precipitated carbide is the sign that indicates spot welded joints structure of spring steel is fully tempered. Spot welded joints microstructure of nickelplaied spring steel is fully tempered in random tempering heat treatment process, and mechanical properties of the welded joints are advanced. This research results showed a new approach for increasing spot welded joints quality of spring steel and hardened steel.

Effect of RE-Modifier on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of High-Carbon Medium-Manganese Steel

The effect of RE-modifier on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high carbon-medium manganese steel has been investigated in present work.The results showed that the RE-modifier can refine the crystalline grain of high-carbon medium-manganese steel.The shape and distribution of carbides are improved and the columnar grains and phosphide in grain boundary are eliminated.Consequently,the impact toughness of the steel is increased by more than one time,compared with no addition of RE-modifier.

Investigation of the Relation between Rolling Contact Fatigue Property and Microstructure on the Surface Layer of D2 Wheel Steel

Through the rolling contact fatigue experiment under the condition of the lubricating oil, this article investigated the relation between contact fatigue property and microstructure on the surface layer of D2 wheel steel. The results showed that although the roughness of the original specimen induced by mechanical processing would diminish to some extent in the experiment, the 0.5 - 1.5 μm thick layer of ultrafine microstructure on the original mechanically-processed specimen surface would still become micro-cracks and small spalling pits due to spalling, and would further evolve into fatigue crack source. Additionally, even under the impact of the load that was not adequate to make the material reach fatigue limit, the ferrite in the microstructure underwent plastic deformation, which led the refinement of proeutectoid ferrite grains. During the experiment, the hardening and the refinement caused by plastic deformation consisted with the theory that dislocation gave rise to plastic deformation and grain refinement. The distribution laws of hardness and ferrite grain sizes measured could be explained by the distribution law of the shearing stress in the subsurface.

Effects of sintering atmosphere on the microstructure and mechanical property of sintered 316L stainless steel

In the present work, N 2, N 2+H 2, Ar and Ar+H 2, were used as the sintering atmosphere of Metal Injection Molded 316L stainless steel respectively. The influences of the sintering atmospheres on C, O, N contents of the sintered specimens, sintered density, grain morphology and mechanical properties were investigated. The results show that C, O, N contents of the sintered specimens can be controlled in permitted low values. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the specimen sintered in N 2+H 2 atmosphere are 765 MPa and 32% respectively. Using Ar and Ar+H 2 as the sintering atmosphere, the density of the sintered specimens is 98% of the theoretical density; the pores are uniformly distributed as small spherical shape and the grain size is about 50 μm. The mechanical properties of the specimen, i.e. ultimate tensile strength 630 MPa, yield strength 280 MPa, elongation 52%, HRB 71, are much better than those of the American Metal Powder Industries Federation(MPIF) 35 Standard after being sintered in Ar+H 2.

Effect of Mn on the microstructure and property of 13Cr stainless steel

Mn is a weak element for austenite formation and its effect on martensitic stainless steel is seldom researched. The microstructure and property of 13Cr martensitic stainless steel with varied Mn content and low carbon content were studied. The research demonstrates that Mn enlarges the austenitic zone at a high temperature and increases the strength and hardness of martensitic stainless steel. Following the addition of Mn,the corrosion resistance property of low carbon 13Cr stainless steel only decreases slightly. The strength and hardness of low carbon 13Cr stainless steel containing Mn is similar to that of high carbon 13Cr stainless steel.

Mechanical Behavior and Microstructure Evolution during Tensile Deformation of Twinning Induced Plasticity Steel Processed by Warm Forgings

The mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution of an Fe-30Mn-3Al-3Si twinninginduced plasticity(TWIP)steel processed using warm forging was investigated.It is found that steel processed via warm forging improves comprehensive mechanical properties compared to the TWIP steel processed via cold rolling,with a high tensile strength(R_(m))of 793 MPa,a yield strength(R_(P))of 682 MPa,an extremely large R_(P)/R_(m)ratio as high as 0.86 as well as an excellent elongation rate of 46.8%.The microstructure observation demonstrates that steel processed by warm forging consists of large and elongated grains together with fine,equiaxed grains.Complicated micro-defect configurations were also observed within the steel,including dense dislocation networks and a few coarse deformation twins.As the plastic deformation proceeds,the densities of dislocations and deformation twins significantly increase.Moreover,a great number of slip lines could be observed in the elongated grains.These findings reveal that a much more dramatic interaction between microstructural defect and dislocations glide takes place in the forging sample,wherein the fine and equiaxed grains propagated dislocations more rapidly,together with initial defect configurations,are responsible for enhanced strength properties.Meanwhile,larger,elongated grains with more prevalently activated deformation twins result in high plasticity.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Gradient Microstructure and Tensile Property of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Fabricated 15-5 Precipitation Hardening Stainless Steel

This work investigated the gradient microstructure evolution and tensile property of LPBF fabricated 15-5 precipitation hardening stainless steel in post-process direct ageing(DA)and solution treating&ageing(STA).The varied microstructures for austenite and small-sized oxide inclusions at different sample heights in the as-built(AB)condition was generally preserved after DA treatment.However,austenite was almost disappeared,and oxide particle grew significantly after the STA treatment.As a result,the tensile property differences in sample top and bottom for AB and DA conditions did not occur in the STA samples.For the influence of post-process heat treatment,the STA condition had the highest yield strength due to the highest volume fraction of nano-sized Cu precipitates.However,the DA specimen had the highest ultimate tensile strength and elongation owing to the considerable amount of austenite phase and associated transformation induced plasticity effect.

Effect of Mn addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of GX40CrNiSi25-12 austenitic heat resistant steel

Three types of steels were designed on the basis of GX40CrNiSi25-12 austenitic heat resistant steel by adding different Mn contents(2wt.%,6wt.%,and 12wt.%).Thermodynamic calculation,microstructure characterization and mechanical property tests were conducted to investigate the effect of Mn addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the austenitic heat resistant steel.Results show that the matrix structure in all the three types of steels at room temperature is completely austenite.Carbides NbC and M_(23)C_(6)precipitate at grain boundaries of austenite matrix.With the increase of Mn content,the number of carbides increases and their distribution becomes more uniform.With the Mn content increases from 1.99%to 12.06%,the ultimate tensile strength,yield strength and elongation increase by 14.6%,8.0%and 46.3%,respectively.The improvement of the mechanical properties of austenitic steels can be explained by utilizing classic theories of alloy strengthening,including solid solution strengthening,precipitation strengthening,and grain refinement.The increase in alloy strength can be attributed to solid solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening caused by the addition of Mn.The improvement of the plasticity of austenitic steels can be explained from two aspects:grain refinement and homogenization of precipitated phases.

Research on microstructure and properties of boron/Q235 steel laser welded dissimilar joints under synchronous thermal field

The mechanical mismatch effect frequently occurs in the dissimilar materials welded joints, thus leading to plastic gradient at the interface between the weld and heat-affected zone(HAZ). In this work, the boron steel and Q235 steel were selected for laser tailor welding,which obtained boron/Q235 steel tailor-welded blanks(TWBs). The method of welding with synchronous thermal field(WSTF) was utilized to eliminate the mismatch effects in TWBs. The WSTF was employed to adjust cooling rates of welded joints, thereby intervening in the solidification behaviors and phase transition of the molten pool. Boron/Q235 steel was welded by laser under conventional and WSTF(300-600 ℃) conditions, respectively. The results show that the microstructure of weld and HAZ(boron) was adequately transitioned to ferrites and pearlites instead of abundant martensite by WSTF. Meanwhile, the discrepancy of microhardness and yield strength between various regions of welded joints was greatly reduced, and the overall plasticity of welded joints was enhanced by WSTF. It is indicated that WSTF can effectively contribute to reducing plastic gradient and achieving mechanical congruity in welded joints by restraining the generation of hardbrittle phase, which could significantly improve the formability of TWBs in subsequent hot stamping.

Microstructure and Property of High Carbonic-Chromium Cast Steel with Different Hot Deformation Ratio

The microstructure and properties of high carbonic-chromium cast steel subjected to different hot deformation ratios were studied.The experimental results show that the microstructure and properties of high carbonic-chromium cast steel are obviously improved after hot deformation,and the best mechanical properties of the cast steel can be obtained under hot deformation ratio of 40 %-50 %,which leads to the morphology change of eutectic carbide and the precipitation of granular carbides.

Microstructure and mechanical property of resistance spot welded joint of aluminum alloy to high strength steel with especial electrodes

Dissimilar material joining of 6008 aluminum alloy to H220 YD galvanized high strength steel was performed by resistance spot welding with especial electrodes that were a flat tip electrode against the steel surface and a domed tip electrode upon the aluminum alloy surface. An intermetallic compound layer composed of Fe2Al5 and FeAl3 was formed at the steel/ aluminum interface in the welded joint. The thickness of the intermetallic compound layer increased with increasing welding current and welding time, and the maximum thickness being 7. 0 μm was obtained at 25 kA and 300 ms. The weld nugget diameter and tensile shear load of the welded joint had increased tendencies first with increasing welding current （ 18 -22 kA） and welding time （ 50 - 300 ms）, then changed little with further increasing welding current （ 22 - 25 kA） and welding time （300 -400 ms）. The maximum tensile shear load reached 5.4 kN at 22 kA and 300 ms. The welded joint fractured through brittle intermetallic compound layer and aluminum alloy nugget.

Effect of ball milling time on the microstructure and compressive properties of the Fe–Mn–Al porous steel

In the present work,Fe–Mn–Al–C powder mixtures were manufactured by elemental powders with different ball milling time,and the porous high-Mn and high-Al steel was fabricated by powder sintering.The results indicated that the powder size significantly decreased,and the morphology of the Fe powder tended to be increasingly flat as the milling time increased.However,the prolonged milling duration had limited impact on the phase transition of the powder mixture.The main phases of all the samples sintered at 640℃ were α-Fe,α-Mn and Al,and a small amount of Fe2Al5 and Al8Mn5.When the sintering temperature increased to 1200℃,the phase composition was mainly comprised of γ-Fe and α-Fe.The weight loss fraction of the sintered sample decreased with milling time,i.e.,8.3wt% after 20 h milling compared to15.3wt% for 10 h.The Mn depletion region(MDR) for the 10,15,and 20 h milled samples was about 780,600,and 370 μm,respectively.The total porosity of samples sintered at 640℃ decreased from ~46.6vol% for the 10 h milled powder to ~44.2vol% for 20 h milled powder.After sintering at 1200℃,the total porosity of sintered samples prepared by 10 and 20 h milled powder was ~58.3vol% and ~51.3vol%,respectively.The compressive strength and ductility of the 1200℃ sintered porous steel increased as the milling time increased.

Effect of nitrogen content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium-bearing nonquenched and tempered steel after hot forging

The microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium(Ti)-bearing medium-carbon nonquenched and tempered steel with different nitrogen content before and after hot forging were investigated through smelting,forging,and laboratory tests.The results show that the grain size of nonquenched and tempered steel was gradually refined,and the ferrite content gradually increased with an increase in nitrogen content.The grain size of the material with low nitrogen content increased abnormally,and its impact properties significantly decreased after hot forging.The grain size of nonquenched and tempered steel with higher nitrogen content was slightly larger than that before forging,and the tensile and yield strength increased,but the impact toughness was not significantly reduced.The Ti-bearing nonquenched and tempered steel showed better strength and toughness after hot forging with the addition of 0.010%0.015%nitrogen.

Achieving Fine-Grained Microstructure and Superior Mechanical Property in a Plain Low-Carbon Steel Using Heavy Cold Rolling Combined with Short-Time Heat Treatment

A new thermomechanical process consisting of heavy cold rolling(HCR)and short-time heat treatment(STH)is developed to fabricate fine-grained martensite microstructure in a low-cost plain low-carbon steel.To achieve the optimal mechanical properties after STH,three different ferrite-pearlite(F-P)dual-phase microstructures are prepared via hot rolling(HR),HR and austenitizing,and HR and HCR.The microstructure evolution and the comprehensive mechanical properties of the alloy during STH are then investigated.We find that the volume fractions of transformed martensite after STH increase with decreasing grain sizes of the pre-STH F-P dual phases.The rapid heating and short-time holding of STH promote grain nucleation and inhibit grain growth,resulting in microstructure refinement.The formation of martensites with different morphologies and different carbon concentrations in the HR and HCR+STH alloy is identified,owing to the inhomogeneous carbon distribution by STH.Tensile experiments demonstrate that STH greatly improves the comprehension mechanical properties of the alloy.Excellent mechanical properties,with a yield strength of 1224 MPa,a tensile strength of 1583 MPa,a uniform elongation of 4.0%and a total elongation of 7.3%are achieved in the HR and HCR+STH alloy.These excellent mechanical properties are principally attributed to the microstructure refinement and martensite formation induced by STH,with a yield strength improvement of 134%and a tensile strength improvement of 150%relative to the HR alloy.

Internal Friction and Profile of Property and Structure of PD_3 and PD_3RE Rail Steels

The profile of both hardness and microstructure of continuous casting blanks and rails of PD3 heavy rail steel and PD3RE steel containing small amount of rare earth （RE） added from tundish were studied. It is found that the addition of RE makes the fluctuation of the hardness value decrease, and inhibits effectively and/or even removes lower hardness value（zone） in the centric area of the blank with a cross section of 280 mm × 380 mm, and that the surface layer in the rail head of PD3RE steel is obviously hardened and the reason causing this hardening is due to the thinning of the pearlite structure. The metallographic observation shows that there exists a Fe-P（C） eutectic structure in the blank center of the PD3 steel containing only 0. 016% P, while the addition of RE can fully inhibit this structure.

The effect of W and Cu on the microstructure and properties of Ni-saving 25Cr duplex stainless steels

Some new Ni-saving 25Cr duplex stainless steels(DSS)have been developed.The results indicate that the alloy has a balanced ferrite-austenite relation after hot forge and solid solution treatment at 1 000℃. The elements W and Cu have a marked effect on the microstructure of the alloy.The pitting potential of the steel adding W and Cu elements reaches the maximum value of 435 mV.The tensile strength and percentage of area reduction of all steels in this paper are 800 -900 MPa and 60%-70%,respectively.The tensile elongations of the alloys are all above 30%.The experimental steels have good corrosion and mechanical property.

A multi-scale grained microstructure of the surface nanocrystallized 304 stainless steel sheets after warm-rolling

An ultrafine grained microstructure was obtained for 304 stainless steel(304SS)sheets by using surface nanocrystallization and warm-rolling.The microstructure and mechanical properties were determined by X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscope(TEM)and a test on microhardness.Experimental results were shown that the microstructure was featured by a continuous distribution from the nanocrystalline on the surface to micro-grains in the center,in which the volume fraction of the micro-sized grains is about 40% in the surface layer.This multi-scale grained microstructure was composed of austenite and martensite phases with a gradient increasing volume fraction of austenite from the surface to the centre.The microhardness of the resultant steel was higher than 150% of that as received,due to the refined grains and strain-induced martensitic transformation.The hardness distribution was consistent with the microstructural variation,suggesting a good combination of high strength and improved ductility.

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Evolution of Cold-deformed High-nitrogen Nickel-free Austenitic Stainless Steel during Annealing

The mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of cold-deformed CrMnN austenitic stainless steel annealed in a temperature ranging from 50 ℃ to 650 ℃ for 90 min and at 550 ℃ for different time were investigated by tensile test, micro hardness test, and Transmission Electron Microscope （TEM）. The steel was strengthened when it got annealed at temperatures ranging from 100 ℃ to 550 ℃, while it was softened when it got annealed at temperatures ranging from 550 ℃ to 650 ℃. Annealing temperature had stronger effect on mechanical properties than annealing time. TEM observations showed that nano-sized precipitates formed when the steel was annealed at 150 ℃ for 90 min, but the size and density of precipitates had no noticeable change with annealing temperature and time. Recrystallization occurred when the steel was annealed at temperatures above 550 ℃ for 90 min, and its scale increased with annealing temperature. Nano-sized annealing twins were observed. The mechanisms that controlled the mechanical behaviors of the steel were discussed.

Comprehensive study of microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 5182-O/HC260YD+Z lap joint

The welding of aluminum(Al)and steel has attracted more and more interest due to the weight reduction trend in vehicle and aerospace manufacturing industries.5182-O/HC260YD+Z lap joint was produced by friction stir welding(FSW),and the microstructure and mechanical property of the joint were systemically characterized.The microstructure in horizontal direction of the Al and steel near interface was similar to their corresponding conventional friction stir welded joint.The joint was divided into stir zone of Al(ST-Al),stir zone of interface(ST-I),thermal-mechanically affected zone of steel(TMAZ-Fe)and base material of steel(BM-Fe)according to their distinct microstructure vertically.Three kinds of intermetallic compounds(IMCs)of FeAl_(3),FeAl and Fe_(3)Al were formed at the interface.The horizontal micro hardness distribution exhibited a hat shape and“M”shape in Al and steel,respectively.The hardest region of the joint was located at the ST-I,with a hardness of 175 HV−210 HV.The joint was fractured along the hook structure,with an average shear strength of 73.9 MPa.Fractural morphology of Al and steel indicted a cleavage fracture mode.

Surface decarburization characteristics and relation between decarburized types and heating temperature of spring steel 60Si2MnA

The characteristics of complete and partial decarburizations in spring steel 60Si2MnA were systematically investigated, including the microstructure, the hardness gradient, and the formation mechanism. The relation between decarburized types and heating temperature of the steel was comprehensively discussed. It is found that heating temper- ature has an important influence on the decarburized types. With the rise of heating temperature, the decarburized types change from no decarburization to complete decarburization, complete and partial decarburizations, partial decarburiza- tion, and no decarburization.