Mechanisms of inclusion evolution and intra-granular acicular ferrite formation in steels containing rare earth elements

Inclusion characteristic and microstructure steel were evaluated with scanning electron of rare earth （RE） elements containing microscopy with energy dispersive spec- troscopy （SEM-EDS）, element-mapping, optical microscopy （OM）, and automated feature analysis （AFA） option equipped with ASPEX PSEM. Factsage was used to calculate the equilibrium inclusion composition. Based on the calculation, an inclu- sion evolution mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, line scanning analysis was used to elucidate the intra-granular acicular ferrite （IAF） nucleation mechanism. The re- sult showed that two different inclusions exist in sample steel： （Mn-A1-Si-Ti-La-Ce-O） ＋MnS complex inclusion and isolated MnS inclusion. Almost all nucleation sites for IAF are complex inclusions, while single MnS inclusion cannot induce IAF. A possible formation mechanism of complex inclusion is proposed based on calculated results using Factsage, which agrees well with experimental results. A Mn-depletion zone （MDZ） which exists adjacent to the （Mn-A1-Si-Ti-La-Ce-O） ＋MnS complex inclusion can account for the IAF formation. However, the low volume fraction （1.49× 10-7） of effective inclusion may result in only 10% （volume fraction） IAF.

Effect of Mg Addition on Nucleation of Intra-granular Acicular Ferrite in Al-killed Low Carbon Steel

To verify the formation behaviors and mechanisms of intra-granular acicular ferrite（ IAF） grains nucleated by Mg-Al-O in low carbon steel,the steels containing different Mg contents were refined in a vacuum induction furnace. The effect of Mg addition on the formation of IAF structure in Al-killed low carbon steel was investigated by optical microscope（ OM） and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope（ SEM-EDX）. It reveals that the IAFs are only detected in Mg-added steels,and the volume fraction of IAF increases with the Mg concentration from 8 × 10^（-6） to 26 × 10^（-6）. It shows that not only the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS and MgO-Al_2O_3-P_2O_5 particles are the effective nucleation sites for IAF,but also the pure MgO·Al_2O_3 phase can promote the ferrite nucleation. A Mn-depletion zone（ MDZ） is characterized adjacent to the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS,which is believed to be one of the possible mechanisms to explain the IAF nucleation. The MDZ around the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS inclusion would be induced by the Mn S precipitation on the inclusion. It seems that the ability of Mg-containing inclusions to induce the nucleation of ferrite might be attributed to a new mechanism,i. e.,the Prich zone formed on a few Mg-Al-O inclusions might be another factor for promoting the IAF formation.

Influences of microstructure and texture on crack propagation path of X70 acicular ferrite pipeline steel

The aspects of two pipeline steels with different technologies were investigated by using transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and electron back-scattered diffraction （EBSD）. The microstructure presents a typical acicular ferrite characteristic with fine particles of martensite/austenite （M/A） constituent, which distributes in grains and at grain boundaries. The bulk textures of the pipeline steel plate are {112}〈110〉 and 〈111〉 fibers, respectively, and the {112}〈110〉 component is the favorable texture benefiting for drop weight tear test. Moreover, low angle boundaries and low coincidence site lattice boundaries are inactive and more resistant to fracture than high energy random boundaries.

Effects of TiC on the microstructure and formation of acicular ferrite in ferritic stainless steel

The formation mechanism of acicular ferrite and its microstructural characteristics in 430 ferrite stainless steel with TiC additions were studied by theory and experiment.Using an"edge?to?edge matching"model,a 5.25 mismatch between TiC(FCC structure)and ferritic stainless steel(BCC structure)was identified,which met the mismatch requirement for the heterogeneous nucleation of 430 ferritic stainless steel.TiC was found to be an effective nucleation site for the formation of acicular ferrite in a smelting experiment,as analyzed by metallographic examination,Image-Pro Plus 6.0 analysis software,and SEM–EDS.Furthermore,small inclusions in the size of 2–4?m increased the probability of acicular ferrite nucleation,and the secondary acicular ferrite would grow sympathetically from the initial acicular ferrite to produce multi-dimensional acicular ferrites.Moreover,the addition of Ti C can increase the average microstrain and dislocation density of 430 ferrite stainless steel,as calculated by Williamson-Hall(WH)method,which could play some role in strengthening the dislocation.

Toughening mechanisms of a high-strength acicular ferrite steel heavy plate

An ultra-low carbon acicular ferrite steel heavy plate was obtained with an advanced thermo-mechanical control process-relaxed precipitation controlled transformation （TMCP-RPC） at Xiangtan Steel, Valin Group. The heavy plate has a tensile strength of approximately 600 MPa with a lower yield ratio. The impact toughness of the heavy plate achieves 280 J at ？40°C. The fine-grained mixed microstructures of the heavy plate mainly consist of acicular ferrite, granular bainite, and polygonal ferrite. The high strength and excellent toughness of the heavy plate are attributed to the formation of acicular ferrite microstructure. The prevention of blocks of martensite/retained austenite （M/A） and the higher cleanness are also responsible for the superior toughness.

Precipitation behaviors of X70 acicular ferrite pipeline steel

The morphology, structure, and chemical composition of precipitates in the final microstructure of Nb-V-Ti microalloyed X70 acicular ferrite pipeline steel were investigated using transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS）. Precipitates observed by TEM can be classified into two groups. The large precipitates are complex compounds that comprise square-shaped TiN precipitate as core with fine Nb-containing precipitate nucleated on pre-existing TiN precipitate as caps on one or more faces at high temperature. In contrast, the fine and spherical Nb carbides and/or carbonitrides precipitate heterogeneously on dislocations and sub-boundaries at low temperature. From the analysis in terms of thermodynamics, EDS and chemical cornposition of the steel, NbC precipitation is considered to be the predominant precipitation behavior in the tested steel under the processing conditions of this research.

Effect of inclusions on the formation of acicular ferrite in Ti-bearing non quenched-and-tempered steel

Nucleation of acicular ferrite and its influence factors in non quenched-and-tempered steel was studied by using TEM and thermodynamic calculation. The results show that the complex particles with a center made of Ti oxide, Al2O3, and silicate and an outside made of a small quantity of mixture of TiN and MnS are able to act as ferrite nucleation nuclei. The acicular ferrite percentage changes little with Ti. When the oxygen content was 80 ppm, the volume percentage of acicular ferrite decreased due to an increase in allotriomorphic ferrite. The larger the cooling rate and the shorter the incubation time, the finer the titanium oxide and the higher the nucleation ratio of acicular ferrite.

Processing of Ultralow Carbon Pipeline Steels with Acicular Ferrite

Acicular ferrite microstructure was achieved for an ultralow carbon pipeline steel through the improved thermome chanical control process (TMCP), which was based on the transformation process of deformed austenite of steel. Compared with commercial pipeline steels, the experimental ultralow carbon pipeline steel possessed the satisfied strength and toughness behaviors under the current improved TMCP, although it contained only approximately 0.025% C, vvhich should mainly be attributed to the microstructural characteristics of acicular ferrite.

Effect of acicular ferrite on banded structures in low-carbon microalloyed steel

The effect of acicular ferrite （AF） on banded structures in low-carbon microalloyed steel with Mn segregation during both iso- thermal transformation and continuous cooling processes was studied by dilatometry and microscopic observation. With respect to the iso- thermal transformation process, the specimen isothermed at 550℃ consisted of AF in Mn-poor bands and martensite in Mn-rich bands, whereas the specimen isothermed at 450℃ exhibited two different morphologies of AF that appeared as bands. At a continuous cooling rate in the range of 4 to 50℃/s, a mixture of AF and martensite formed in both segregated bands, and the volume fraction of martensite in Mn-rich bands was always higher than that in Mn-poor bands. An increased cooling rate resulted in a decrease in the difference of martensite volume fraction between Mn-rich and Mn-poor bands and thereby leaded to less distinct microstrucmral banding. The results show that Mn segregation and cooling rate strongly affect the formation of AF-containing banded structures. The formation mechanism of microstructural banding was also discussed.

Mechanical properties and grain refinement by acicular ferrite in high strength high toughness weld metal

The volume fraction and morphology of acicular ferrite evolution in a high strength high toughness weld metal were studied and the mechanical properties of weld metal under heat input of 21 kJ/cm with and without fast cooling were tested. The results show the weld metal can obtain a large proportion of acicular ferrite during a wide range of cooling rate and the sizes of acicular ferrite in length and thickness decrease with cooling rate increasing. The weld metal exhibited high tensile strength （895 MPa and 870 MPa） and good low temperature toughness （average AKv-30℃ 104 J and 79. 2 J）. The higher tensile strength and better low temperature toughness of the weld metal under fast cooling are due to the more refined grain of acicular ferrite.

Research and Trial Production of X80 Pipeline Steel with High Toughness Using Acicular Ferrite

The research and trial production of X80 pipeline steel in Baosteel is briefly introduced in this paper. It is shown that the X80 pipeline steel with high toughness using acicular ferrite microstructure is designed by ultra-low carbon, micro-alloying and Mo-low-alloying in the compositions, and can be produced by combining with the clean steel-making technology and thermal-mechanical controlled processing. The pipes made from the trial producing coils meet the requirements for grade X80 line pipe of the API spec.5L, and have high Charpy V-notch impact energy and good dynamic tear-resistance ability at low temperature. The X80 pipeline steel can be applied to the high-pressure transporting gas pipeline project.

Kinetics of Acicular Ferrite Transformation in Weld Metal

Acicular Ferrite(AF) is beneficial in welds because it provides a tough and strong microstructure.Therefore,much works have been done in the study of the effect of alloying elements and welding conditions aimed at obtaining more AF in the weld metal.However,the knowledge about the nature of AF is limited due to the lack of kinetics researches.In this paper,the kinetic curves of AF transformation in an X65 weld metal were established by means of welding thermal simulation test.The results showed that AF transformation is a typical diffusion process of nucleation and growth with incubation period.AF transformation in weld metal obeys the relationship described by JMA Equation.The effect of welding heat input was also studied.

Research and Development of X70 with an Acicular Ferrite Microstructure for West-East Pipeline Project

It is introduced in this paper that a high strength and high toughness X70 pipeline steel with an ultra low acicular ferrite microstructure has been researched and developed at Baosteel according to the requirements of the West East Gas Pipeline(WEGTP) project. The developed steel has higher strength, higher toughness, lower ductile brittle transition temperature and higher dynamic tear resistance than the conventional X70 with ferrite and pearlite microstructure. The excellent properties of the steel are benefited from ultra-low carbon acicular ferrite consisting of interaction of very fine precipitated particles and high-density dislocation. And the steel has been applied on the WEGTP in China.

Effect of Nanophase on the Nucleation of Intragranular Ferrite in Microalloyed Steel

MnS, MnS＋V（C, N） complex precipitates in micro-alloyed ultra-fine grained steels were precisely analyzed to investigate the grain refining mechanism. The experimental results shows that MnS, MnS＋V（C, N） precipitates provide nucleation center for Intra-granular ferrite （IGF）, so that refined grain remarkably. Moreover, substructures such as grain boundary, sub-boundary, distortion band, dislocation and dislocation cell in austenite increased as the deformation energy led by heavy deformation at low temperature （deformation temperature≤800 ℃, deformation quantity≥50%）. As a result, V（C, N） nanophase precipitated at these substructures, which pinned and stabilized substructures. The substructures rotated and transformed into ultra-fine ferrite. 20 nm-50 nm were the best grain size range of V（C, N） as it provided nucleating center for intragranular ferrite. The grain size of V（C, N） were less than 30 nm in the microalloyed steels that with volume ratio of ultra-fine ferrite more than 80% and grain size less than 4 μm.

不同振动加速度下MAG焊缝显微组织及残余应力分析

为了进一步优化Q450NQR1高强钢的焊接质量,在Q450NQR1的MAG(熔化极活性气体保护电弧焊)过程中施加机械振动,研究振动加速度对焊缝显微组织及焊缝残余应力的影响。根据试验结果,在焊接过程中施加机械振动,可以促进焊缝中针状铁素体的形成,随着振动加速度的增加,焊缝中针状铁素体含量增加;机械振动可降低焊缝中的纵向残余应力,当振动加速度为9.85 m/s2时,焊缝纵向残余应力下降幅度最大。与传统MAG焊相比,最大残余应力下降幅度为11.73%,最小残余应力下降幅度为10.03%。研究结果表明,振动对Q450NQR1的残余应力有显著的抑制作用。

440 MPa级高强钢焊条熔敷金属组织与低温冲击韧性研究

为满足440 MPa级高强钢对焊接材料的需求,研制了三种焊条,并进行了熔敷金属焊接试验,使用光学显微镜、扫描电镜和透射电镜等手段研究了熔敷金属组织与低温冲击韧性.结果表明,随着Mn,Ni,Cr和Cu含量的增大,熔敷金属的-40℃平均冲击吸收功从35.7 J逐渐增至96.3 J,低温冲击韧性逐渐提高;随着Mn,Ni,Cr和Cu含量的增大,虽然熔敷金属中M23C6型碳化物含量逐渐增大,但是熔敷金属的CCT曲线逐渐右移,相变温度逐渐降低,使得针状铁素体含量逐渐增加,铁素体板条尺寸逐渐减小和板条间交织状分布趋势逐渐增强,M-A组元含量及尺寸逐渐减小,是低温冲击韧性逐渐提高的主要原因;含Cu熔敷金属中夹杂物外层会形成CuS,针状铁素体形核更容易,有利于低温冲击韧性提高.

热输入对440 MPa级HSLA钢埋弧焊对接接头组织及性能的影响

采用20 kJ/cm,25 kJ/cm,30 kJ/cm三种焊接热输入进行440 MPa级HSLA钢埋弧焊试验,使用光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜、维氏硬度仪以及冲击试验机等实验仪器,研究了焊接热输入对接头显微组织和力学性能的影响。结果表明,三种不同的热输入下的焊缝金属的显微组织主要由先共析铁素体、侧板条铁素体、针状铁素体以及少量残余奥氏体组成,粗晶热影响区的显微组织主要由粒状贝氏体组成。随着焊接热输入的增加,焊缝金属中针状铁素体的含量不断降低,先共析铁素体和侧板条铁素体的含量逐渐升高;粗晶热影响区中粒状贝氏体的晶粒尺寸明显增大,焊缝金属中直径大于1μm的夹杂物占比从40.7%逐渐升高至59.9%,因此使得焊缝金属的强度和低温冲击韧性下降。当热输入为20 kJ/cm时,焊缝金属的平均硬度值最高,且低温冲击韧性达到最优;当热输入从20 kJ/cm开始增大时,焊缝冲击功从186 J下降至130 J,冲击断口中韧窝尺寸逐渐减小,深度变浅,断口形貌由韧性断裂向准解理断裂过渡,降低了裂纹扩展所需的能量,使得冲击吸收功不断减小。

440MPa级HSLA钢焊缝低温韧性分析

采用自制的2种实心焊丝对440 MPa级HSLA钢进行了对接MAG焊(80%Ar+20%CO_(2)),通过对比分析2种焊缝的显微组织和夹杂物尺寸及成分,对2种焊缝低温韧性出现显著差异的原因进行了阐释。结果表明,J1焊丝的焊缝由针状铁素体、侧板条铁素体、先共析铁素体和M-A组元组成,而J2焊丝的焊缝由针状铁素体和M-A组元组成;2种焊丝的焊缝中夹杂物的粒径分布、尺寸、数量和成分差异小,不是导致2种焊缝低温韧性出现显著差异的主要原因;与J1焊丝的焊缝相比,J2焊丝的焊缝中针状铁素体含量升高、M-A组元含量降低、条状和块状M-A组元占比降低,是导致其低温韧性显著优于J1焊丝的主要原因。

Ti-Mg脱氧钢复合夹杂物诱导针状铁素体原位观察

以Ti-Mg脱氧钢为研究对象,采用热模拟和高温激光共聚焦显微镜(CLSM)研究了不同冷速对组织相变的影响以及连续冷却条件下原位观察晶内夹杂物诱导针状铁素(AF)体形成过程。结果表明:随着冷速的增加,AF含量先增加后降低,冷速为5℃/s时,AF含量最多;高温原位观察发现,614℃时AF开始在夹杂物处形核,553℃时形核长大结束。电子探针面扫夹杂物内层以MgO-Al_(2)O_(3)为主体,外层覆盖TiOx-MnO。贫Mn区的形成是诱导含Ti-Mg复合夹杂物诱导生成AF的主要原因。

低合金高强钢焊缝金属针状铁素体的高温回火性能研究

采用OM、SEM、EBSD、TEM等表征技术,并结合拉伸、冲击和硬度测试等手段,对低合金高强钢焊缝金属中针状铁素体经640℃高温回火前后的显微组织和力学性能进行研究,并借助热力学计算,探讨了针状铁素体回火组织稳定性的微观机制。结果表明,低合金高强度钢焊缝金属经不同时间高温回火后,组织均由体积分数约90%的针状铁素体和少量晶界铁素体构成,无明显的晶粒粗化现象,保持了针状铁素体基体的高位错密度。在回火1 h后,焊缝金属的强度和硬度显著提高;随着回火时间的延长,其强度和硬度略有下降,但整体仍维持在较高水平,这主要归因于短时回火(不超过2 h)期间,大量碳化物的析出产生了显著的析出强化作用;随着回火时间延长,析出物的类型和数量变化不大,这与热力学计算结果相吻合。