Effect of continuous annealing parameters on the mechanical properties and microstructures of a cold rolled dual phase steel

A cold rolled dual phase （DP） steel with the C-Si-Mn alloy system was trial-produced in the laboratory, utilizing a Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator. The effects of continuous annealing parameters on the mechanical properties and microstructures of the DP steel were investigated by mechanical testing and microstructure observation. The results show that soaking between 760 and 820℃ for more than 80 s, rapid cooling at the rate of more than 30℃/s from the quenching temperature between 620 and 680℃, and overaging lower than 300℃ are beneficial for the mechanical properties of DP steels. An appropriate proportion of the two phases is one of the key factors for the favorable properties of DP steels. If the volume fraction of martensite and, thereby, free dislocations are deficient, the tensile strength and n value of DP steels will decrease, whereas, the yield strength will increase. But if the volume fraction of martensite is excessive to make it become a dominant phase, the yield and tensile strength will increase, whereas, the elongation will decrease obviously. When rapid cooling rate is not fast enough, pearlite or cementite will appear, which will degrade the mechanical properties. Even though martensite is sufficient, if it is decomposed in high temperature tempering, the properties will he unsatisfied.

Stress-strain partitioning analysis of constituent phases in dual phase steel based on the modified law of mixture

A more accurate estimation of stress-strain relationships for martensite and ferrite was developed, and the modified law of mixture was used to investigate the stress-strain partitioning of constituent phases in dual phase （DP） steels with two different martensite volume fractions. The results show that there exist great differences in the stress-strain contribution of martensite and ferrite to DP steel. The stress-strain partitioning coefficient is not constant in the whole strain range, but decreases with increasing the true strain of DP steel. The softening effect caused by the dilution of carbon concentration in martensite with the increase of martensite volume fraction has great influence on the strain contribution of martensite. The strain ratio of ferrite to martensite almost linearly increases with increasing the true strain of DP steel when the martensite volume fraction is 22%, because martensite always keeps elastic. But the strain ratio of ferrite to martensite varies indistinctively with the further increase in true strain of DP steel above 0.034 when the martensite volume fraction is 50%, because plastic deformation happens in martensite. The stress ratio ofmartensite to ferrite decreases monotonously with increasing the true strain of DP steel whether the martensite volume fraction is 22% or 50%.

Dual Phase Heat Treatment of Low-Alloy Steel

Dual phase heat treatment is an economical and effective way for improving the properties of low carbon steels and low-alloy steel materials. In this paper, the microstructures and mechanical properties of 20MnSi steel treated by different dual phase heat treatment have been studied. The results show that dual phase heat treatment with pre-quenching technique and then heating from room temperature to the critical zone can achieve finer and more homogeneous microstructure than that with pre-normalizing technique and then cooling from austenite zone to the critical zone. Among all factors affecting dual phase heat treatment, quenching temperature at the critical zone and tempering temperature play an important part in mechanical properties. Using proper dual phase heat treatment technique with computer optimized parameters, the yield strength, the elongation and impact toughness of 20MnSi can reach 860 MPa, 16% and 207 MPa respectively.

Dry Sliding Oxidative Wear in Plain Carbon Dual Phase Steel

To investigate the tribological potential of the dual phase （DP） steel as a wear resistant material, the wear and the friction characteristics of this steel, which consists of hard martensite islands embedded in a ductile ferrite matrix, have been investigated and compared with those observed in plain carbon hardened （H） steel that has the same carbon content of 0.2%. Dry sliding wear tests have been carried out using a pin-on-disk wear testing machine at different normal loads of 21.3 N, 28. 5 N, 35.7 N, and 42.6 N and at a constant sliding velocity of 1.20 m/s. The analysis of surface and wear debris of samples showed that the wear mechanism was mainly mild oxidative. The friction and the wear rate of the H steel and the DP Steel have been explained with respect to the microstructure and the wear mechanism.

A Study on the Wear Behaviour of Dual Phase Steels

Dual phase （DP） steels containing four different amounts of martensite ranging from 43 vol. pct to 81 vol. pct have been developed from 0.2 wt pct carbon steel by intercritical heat treatment at a fixed temperature of 780℃ with varying holding times followed by water quenching. Dry sliding wear tests have been conducted on DP steels using a pin- on-disk machine under different normal loads of 61.3, 68.5, 75.7 and 82.6 N and at a constant sliding speed of 1.20 m/s. At these loads, the mechanism of wear is primarily delamination, which has been confirmed by SEM micrographs of subsurface and wear debris of samples. Wear properties have been found to improve with the increase in martensite volume fraction in dual phase steels.

Mechanical properties of fine-grained dual phase low-carbon steels based on dynamic transformation

The fine grained dual phase （FG-DP） steel with ferrite grains of 2-4.5 μm and martensite islands smaller than 3 μm was obtained through the mechanism of deformation-enhanced ferrite transformation （DEFT）. Mechanical properties of the steel were tested at room temperature. The results indicated that with a similar volume fraction of martensite （about 20vol%）,FG-DP steel exhibited a superior combination of higher strength and more rapid strain hardening at low strains compared with the coarse-grained dual phase （CG-DP） steel obtained by critical annealing. The combination of higher strength,large elongation,and more rapid strain hardening of FG-DP steel can be attributed to the fine ferrite grain and finely dispersed martensite islands. In addition,the uniformly distributed martensite islands in FG-DP steel have smaller interspacing compared with that of CG-DP steel. So,at the initial plastic deformation stage,the plastic deformation of ferrite was restrained and more pronounced load was transferred from ferrite to martensite. The plastic deformation of martensite in FG-DP steel started earlier.

Influence of silicon on the microstructures, mechanical properties and stretch-flangeability of dual phase steels

Uniaxial tension tests and hole-expansion tests were carried out to determine the influence of silicon on the microstructures, mechanical properties, and stretch-flangeability of conventional dual-phase steels. Compared to 0.03wt% silicon, the addition of 1.08wt% silicon induced the formation of finer ferrite grains （6.8μm ） and a higher carbon content of martensite （Cm≈ 0.32wt%）. AS the silicon level increased, the initial strain-hardening rate （n value） and the uniform elongation increased, whereas the yield strength, yield ratio, and stretch-flangeability decreased. The microstructures were observed after hole-expansion tests. The results showed that low carbon content martensite （Cm ≈ 0.19wt%） can easily deform in coordination with ferrite. The relationship between the mechanical properties and stretch-flangeability indicated that the steel with large post-uniform elongation has good stretch-flangeability due to a closer plastic incom- patibility of the ferrite and martensite phases, which can effectively delay the production and decohesion of microvoids.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of C-Mn-Cr-Nb and C-Mn-Si-Nb ultra-high strength dual-phase steels

The microstructures and mechanical properties of C-Mn-Cr-Nb and C-Mn-Si-Nb ultra-high strength dual-phase steels were studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and tensile test. The results show that Si can promote the transformation of austenite （γ） to ferrite （α）, enlarge the （α＋γ） region, and increase the aging stability of martensite by inhibiting carbide precipitation. Adding Cr leads to the formation of retained austenite and martensite/austenite （M/A） constituents, as well as the decomposi- tion of martensite during the overaging stage. Both of the steels show higher initial strain-hardening rates and two-stage strain-hardening characteristics. The C-Mn-Si-Nb steel shows the higher strain-hardening rate than the C-Mn-Cr-Nb steel in the first stage; however, there is no significant difference in the second stage. Although the tensile strength and elongation of the two steels both exceed 1000 MPa and 15%, respectively, the comprehensive mechanical properties of the C-Mn-Si-Nb steel are superior.

Microstructure-Properties Correlation of Dual Phase Steels Produced by Controlled Rolling Process

The purpose of this research is to quantify the effects of compositional and processing parameters on the microstruc-ture and properties of dual phase steel produced directly by hot rolling and rapid cooling. Steels with the base composition of 0.1%C, 1.4%Si, and 1.0%Mn with additions of 0.5%Cr to influence hardenability, 0.04%Nb to retard recrystallization in the latter stages of rolling, or 0.02%Ti to inhibit grain growth during and after reheating were investigated. Investigation was made to predict microstructure evolution and to correlate microstructure with processing parameters. The effects of the important microstructure parameters such as ferrite grain size, martensite volume fraction (VM) and morphology (polygonal or fibrous) on the tensile and impact properties are discussed. Multiple linear regression analysis of the ultimate tensile strength has shown that, increasing VM and martensite microhardness and grain refinement of ferrite are the major contributions to increase the strength of the steel. It was found that the dual-phase steel produced by controlled rolling process, with a microstructure which consisted of fine grained ferrite (4 um) and 35%~40% fibrous martensite, presented optimum tensile and impact properties because of enhanced resistance to crack propagation.

Numerical simulation on the microstress and microstrain of low Si-Mn-Nb dual-phase steel

According to the stress-strain curves of single-phase martensite and single-phase ferrite steels,whose compositions are similar to those of martensite and ferrite in low Si-Mn-Nb dual-phase steel,the stress-strain curve of the low Si-Mn-Nb dual-phase steel was simulated using the finite element method（FEM）.The simulated result was compared with the measured one and they fit closely with each other, which proves that the FE model is correct.Based on the FE model,the microstress and microstrain of the dual-phase steel were analyzed. Meanwhile,the effective factors such as the volume fraction of martensite and the yield stress ratio between martensite and ferrite phases on the stress-strain curves of the dual-phase steel were simulated,too.The simulated results indicate that for the low Si-Mn-Nb dual-phase steel, the maximum stress occurs in the martensite region,while the maximum strain occurs in the ferrite one.The effect of the volume fraction of martensite（fm） and the yield stress ratio on the stress-strain curve of the dual-phase steel is small in the elastic part,while it is obvious in the plastic part.In the plastic part of this curve,the strain decreases with the increase of f_M,while it decreases with the decrease of the yield stress ratio.

Effects of pre-strain and baking parameters on the microstructure and bake-hardening behavior of dual-phase steel

In a typical process, C-Mn steel was annealed at 800℃ for 180 s, and then cooled rapidly to obtain the ferrite-martensite microstructure. After pre-straining, the specimens were baked and the corresponding bake-hardening （BH） values were determined as a function of pre-strain, baking temperature, and baking time. The influences ofpre-strain, baking temperature and baking time on the microstructure evolution and bake-hardening behavior of the dual-phase steel were investigated systematically. It was found that the BH value apparently increased with an increase in pre-strain in the range from 0 to 1%; however, increasing pre-strain from 1% to 8% led to a decrease in the BH value. Furthermore, an increase in baking temperature favored a gradual improvement in the BH value because of the formation of Cottrell atmosphere and the precipitation of carbides in both the ferrite and martensite phases. The BH value reached a maximum of 110 MPa at a baking temperature of 300℃. Moreover, the BH value enhanced significantly with increasing baking time from 10 to 100 min.

Effect of hot-dip galvanizing processes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 600-MPa hot-dip galvanized dual-phase steel

A C–Mn dual-phase steel was soaked at 800°C for 90 s and then either rapidly cooled to 450°C and held for 30 s(process A) or rapidly cooled to 350°C and then reheated to 450°C(process B) to simulate the hot-dip galvanizing process. The influence of the hot-dip galvanizing process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 600-MPa hot-dip galvanized dual-phase steel(DP600) was investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), and tensile tests. The results showed that, in the case of process A, the microstructure of DP600 was composed of ferrite, martensite, and a small amount of bainite. The granular bainite was formed in the hot-dip galvanizing stage, and martensite islands were formed in the final cooling stage after hot-dip galvanizing. By contrast, in the case of process B, the microstructure of the DP600 was composed of ferrite, martensite, bainite, and cementite. In addition, compared with the yield strength(YS) of the DP600 annealed by process A, that for the DP600 annealed by process B increased by approximately 50 MPa because of the tempering of the martensite formed during rapid cooling. The work-hardening coefficient(n value) of the DP600 steel annealed by process B clearly decreased because the increase of the YS affected the computation result for the n value. However, the ultimate tensile strength(UTS) and elongation(A80) of the DP600 annealed by process B exhibited less variation compared with those of the DP600 annealed by process A. Therefore, DP600 with excellent comprehensive mechanical properties(YS = 362 MPa, UTS = 638 MPa, A_(80) = 24.3%, n = 0.17) was obtained via process A.

Corrosion behavior of tempered dual-phase steel embedded in concrete

Dual-phase （DP） steels with different martensite contents were obtained by appropriate heat treatment of an SAE1010 structural carbon steel, which was cheap and widely used in the construction industry. The corrosion behavior of DP steels in concrete was investigated under various tempering conditions. Intercritical annealing heat treatment was applied to the reinforcing steel to obtain DP steels with different contents of martensite. These DP steels were tempered at 200, 300, and 400℃ for 45 min and then cooled to room temperature. Corrosion experiments were conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the corrosion potential of DP steels embedded in concrete was measured every day for a period of 30 d based on the ASTM C 876 standard. In the second stage, the anodic and cathodic polarization values of these steels were obtained and subsequently the corrosion currents were determined with the aid of cathodic polarization curves. It was observed that the amount of second phase had a definite effect on the corrosion behavior of the DP steel embedded in concrete. As a result of this study, it is found that the corrosion rate of the DP steel increases with an increase in the amount of martensite.

Effect of intercritical annealing on microstructure,mechanical properties,and work-hardening behavior of ultrahigh-strength dual-phase steels with different silicon contents

In this study,three kinds of dual-phase(DP) steels were used to investigate the influence of silicon content and intercritical annealing temperature on their microstructures,mechanical properties,and work-hardening behaviors. By adding silicon and matching the critical annealing temperature,a new DP steel(1.0Si and intercritically annealed at 790 ℃) that exhibits an excellent combination of ultrahigh strength and adequate ductility was obtained. Variations in the strength,elongation,and fracture mechanism of the specimens with respect to different intercritical annealing temperatures were correlated to microstructural features. With an increase in the silicon content,there is no significant change in the martensitic band structure or ferrite morphology. At the same annealing temperature,the yield strength and yield strength ratio of the specimens decreased,but at different annealing temperatures,the tensile strength was reduced. The Hollomon analysis results indicate that the workhardening behavior obeys a two-stage work-hardening mechanism. With an increasing intercritical annealing temperature,the "transition strain"shifts to the left,and with an increasing silicon content,the "transition strain"shifts to the right. The surface exhibits ductile fractures characterized by a high density of microvoid dimples. With an increase in the silicon content,the average dimple size on the fracture surface decreases and the plasticity of the material increases.

Effect of Holding Time on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Dual-Phase Steel during Intercritical Annealing

Continuous annealing simulation tests were conducted by using a continuous annealing thermomechanical simulator. Holding times of 5, 60, 180, and 480 seconds for an intercritical annealing temperature of 820℃ were adopted to investigate the evolution of the mierostructure and mechanical properties of ferrite-bainite dual-phase steel. The ferrite-bainite dual-phase steel was characterized by high strength and low yield ratio due to the presence of the constituents （polygonal ferrite, bainite, martensite and retained austenite） of the steel microstructure. Specimen 3 exhibits the highest value of A50 （7.67%） and a product of Rm × A50 （10453MPa%） after a 180s holding. This is likely attributed to the presence of a C-enriched retained anstenite in the microstructure. And the effect of martensite islands and carbide precipitate is thought to be able to contribute in strengthening the present steel. It is expected that equilibrium of anstenite fraction would be reached for reasonable intercritical holding period, regardless of the heating temperature. The results suggest that long increasing holding times may not be needed because the major phase of the microstructure does not change very significantly. It is favorable for industrial production of DP steels to shorten holding times. Key words： ferrite-bainite dual-phase steel; holding time; martensite islands; mechanical properties

Development of Tailored Structure and Tensile Properties of Thermomechanical Treated Micro Alloyed Low Carbon Dual Phase Steel

Direct hot rolled dual phase steel production represents a challenging route, compared with cold rolled and intercritical annealing process, due to complex and sophisticated control of the hot strip mill processing parameters. Instead, high technology compact slab production plant offers economic advantages, adequate control and prompt use of the advanced thermomechanical controlled rolling. The current work aims to obtain different structures and tensile properties by physical simulation of direct hot rolled niobium micro alloyed dual phase low carbon steel by varying the metallurgical temperatures of hot strip mill plant. This starts with adaptation of the chemical analysis of a low carbon content to fall far from the undesired peritectic region to avoid slab cracking during casting. Thermodynamic and kinetics calculations by Thermo-Calc 2020 and JMat pro software are used to define the transformation’s temperatures Ae1 and Ae3 as well as processing temperatures;namely of reheating, finishing rolling, step cooling and coiling temperatures. The results show that the increase of finishing rolling temperature from 780°C to 840°C or decreasing either of step cooling duration at ferrite bay from 7 to 4 seconds, enhances yield and tensile strengths, all due to more martensite volume fraction formation. The yield and tensile strengths also increase with decreasing coiling temperature from 330°C to 180°C, which is explained due to the increase of dislocation densities resulted from the sudden shape change during martensite formation at the lower coiling temperature in additional to the self-tempering of martensite formed at higher coiling temperatures which soften the dual phase steel.

Austenite formation during intercritical annealing in C-Mn cold-rolled dual phase steel

Two different kinds of experimental techniques were used to in-situ study the austenite formation during intercritical annealing in C-Mn dual phase steel. The microstructure evolution was observed by confocal laser scanning microscope, and the austenite isothermal and non-isothermal transformation kinetics were studied by dilatometry. The results indicate that banded structure is produced for the reason of composition segregation and the competition between recrystallization and phase transformation. Austenite prefers to nucleate not only at ferrite/ferrite grain boundaries, but also inside the grains of ferrite.Furthermore, the austenitizing process is accomplished mainly via migration of the existing austenite/ferrite interface rather than nucleation of new grains. The incubation process can be divided into two stages which are controlled by carbon and manganese diffusion, respectively. During the incubation process, the nucleation rate of austenite decreases, and austenite growth changes from two-dimensional to one-dimensional. The partitioning coefficient, defined as the ratio of manganese content in the austenite to that in the adjacent ferrite, increases with increasing soaking time.

Effects of rotation and gravity on an electro-magneto-thermoelastic medium with diffusion and voids by using the Lord-Shulman and dual-phase-lag models

The effects of rotation and gravity on an electro-magneto-thermoelastic medium with diffusion and voids in a generalized thermoplastic half-space are studied by using the Lord-Shulman (L-S) model and the dual-phase-lag (DPL) model. The analytical solutions for the displacements, stresses, temperature, diffusion concentration, and volume fraction field with different values of the magnetic field, the rotation, the gravity, and the initial stress are obtained and portrayed graphically. The results indicate that the effects of gravity, rotation, voids, diffusion, initial stress, and electromagnetic field are very pronounced on the physical properties of the material.

Effects of overaging temperature on the microstructure and properties of 600MPa cold-rolled dual-phase steel

C–Mn steels prepared by annealing at 800°C for 120 s and overaging at 250–400°C were subjected to pre-straining（2%） and baking treatments（170°C for 20 min） to measure their bake-hardening（BH_2） values. The effects of overaging temperature on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and BH_2 behavior of 600 MPa cold-rolled dual-phase（DP） steel were investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and tensile tests. The results indicated that the martensite morphology exhibited less variation when the DP steel was overaged at 250–350°C. However, when the DP steel was overaged at 400°C, numerous non-martensite and carbide particles formed and yield-point elongation was observed in the tensile curve. When the overaging temperature was increased from 250 to 400°C, the yield strength increased from 272 to 317 MPa, the tensile strength decreased from 643 to 574 MPa, and the elongation increased from 27.8% to 30.6%. Furthermore, with an increase in overaging temperature from 250 to 400°C, the BH_2 value initially increases and then decreases. The maximum BH_2 value of 83 MPa was observed for the specimen overaged at 350°C.

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of 1000 MPa cold rolled dual-phase steel

The microstructure evolution of 1 000 MPa cold rolled dual-phase (DP) steel at the initial heating stages of the continuous annealing process was analyzed. The effects of different overaging temperatures on the microstructures and mechanical properties of 1 000 MPa cold rolled DP steel were investigated using a Gleeble-3500 thermal/mechanical simulator. The experimental results show that ferrite recovery and recrystallization, pearlite dissolution and austenite nucleation and growth take place in the annealing process of ultra-high strength cold rolled DP steel. When being annealed at 800 ℃ for 80 s, the tensile strength and total elongation of DP steel can reach 1 150 MPa and 13%, respectively. The microstructure of DP steel mainly consists of a mixture of ferrite and martensite. The steel exhibits low yield strength and continuous yielding which is commonly attributed to mobile dislocations introduced during cooling process from the intercritical annealing temperature.