New Space Morphology and Habit Plane of Low Carbon Martensite

The as-quenched microstructures of low carbon steels were observed by scanning electron microscope, and the thin foil specimen was examined by transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the space morphology of low carbon martensite is not lath-like but thin sheet-like, which is designated as sheet-like martensite or packet thin sheet martensite. A three-dimensional model was presented. The reason for exhibiting two apparent morphologies, i.e. double contrast packet and simple contrast packet, in as-quenched low carbon steels was analyzed in detail. It is suggested that the data of martensitic habit plane measured by other procedures should be further inspected using optical metallographic method. The apparent morphologies of low carbon martensite confirm that its habit plane should be {557}_r, rather than {111}_r, {345}_r, nor {213}_r.

Microstructure/property relations in lath martensitic steels

Many of the high strength,high toughness steels in use or under development are alloy steels with dislocated lath martensitic structures.These microstructures are visually complex,and are difficult to categorize in the detail needed to clarify the structure-property relations.However,substantial progress has been made in recent years.In particular,it is now clear that the martensite block element sets the effective grain size that must be controlled to resist brittleness by cleavage fracture.In previous papers at this conference I have discussed the nature and importance of the block structure.In this study I discuss how the block size can be controlled by thermal treatments to achieve superior properties.

Tempering mechanism of lath martensite induced in IF steel under high pressure

In this paper,low-and high-strength lath martensite(350 and 640 HV)was fabricated in an IF steel via high pressure martensitic transformation.The microstructure and the softening during their tempering from 200°C to 800°C for 1 h were systematically investigated.A carbon-irrelevant tempering process was proposed,exhibiting a three-stage structural evolution pattern depending upon the tempering de-gree(1-(HV-HV FP)/(HV NP-HV FP),where the HV is the instant hardness,HV NP is the non-tempered hard-ness and HV FP is the fully tempered hardness):(1)low tempered(<10%),removing the loose dislocations and dislocation boundaries within martensitic variants;(2)medium tempered(10%-50%),eliminating the martensitic variant laths via the migration of their terminal tips;(3)highly tempered(>50%),clearing up the remained variant laths via the migration of the triple junctions.Martensite-type microstructure is tailored by low-index lamellar variant boundaries and is thus intrinsically thermally stable,whereas the mobile terminal tips decrease the tempering resistance.The underlying mechanism for such carbon-irrelevant process was discussed and the potential effect on the tempering behavior of carbon-contained martensite was highlighted.

Effect of Substructure on Toughness of Lath Martensite/Bainite Mixed Structure in Low-Carbon Steels

The quantitative analysis of substructure in the martensite/bainite mixed structure, which is obtained from low-carbon NiCrMoV steels under different cooling conditions, was made by means of optical microscope （OM）, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, electron backscatter diffraction （EBSD）, and transmission electron microscope （TEM）, in order to research the effect on toughness. The test results indicate that the toughness of the steel is en- hanced with the decrease in the packet and block size under the condition of the same prior austenite grain size mixed with different ratios of martensite and bainite while the lath width is about 0.38μm. The calculation shows that both the packet and block boundaries have the same hindering effect on crack extension. Furthermore, the effect of the block width on impact energy is much larger than that of the packet. Therefore, the block can be used as microstruc- tural substructure to affect the toughness in low-carbon martensite steels, suggesting that the block size is ＂the effective grain size＂ for controlling toughness.

Twinned substructure in lath martensite of water quenched Fe-0.2%C and Fe-0.8%C steels

In the present investigation,twinned substructures within lath martensite of two water quenched steels(0.2 wt.%C and 0.8 wt.%C)were studied.The lath martensite has typical hierarchical packet-block-lath with dislocation substructure.Besides,laths that are misoriented by<011>/70.5°or<111>/60° and bordered by{011}plane,namely twinned laths,are observed,of which the density increases and the scale decreases as more carbons were presented.Such twinned laths have body centered cubic(bcc)crystal structure,belonging to twinned variants following the classical Kurdjumov-Sachs(K-S)orientation relationship with respect to the parent austenite.Unlike bcc{112}<111>twins,twinned variants produce strong double diffraction and in turn the extra diffraction spots that are commonly observed in the martensite in steels with wide range of carbon contents.

Effect of Martensite Morphology on Impact Toughness of Ultra-High Strength 25CrMo48V Steel Seamless Tube Quenched at Different Temperatures

A 25CrMo48V steel for ultra-deep oil/gas well casings was quenched at 900-1 200 ℃ and tempered at 650 ℃. The lath martensitic structures were characterized by optical microscope （OM）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）, electron backscattering diffraction （EBSD） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and the transverse impact energy at 0 ℃ was measured from the as-quenched and tempered specimens. The results show that with the quenching temperature decreased, the prior austenite grain, martensitic packet and block are refined, while the lath width seems to remain unchanged. The enhancement of impact toughness with the decreasing quenching temperature can be attributed to refinement of the martensitic structure with high-angle boundaries, and the block is the minimum structure unit controlling impact toughness. The transverse impact energy [ECVN （0 ℃） ≥100 J] required for seamless casings with ultra-high strength （Rp0.2≥932 MPa） has been finally achieved with the experimental steel quenched at 900-1 000 ℃ and tempered at 650 ℃.

Effects of Tempering Temperature and Mo/Ni on Microstructures and Properties of Lath Martensitic Wear-Resistant Steels

The tempering behavior was experimentally studied in lath martensitic wear-resistant steels with various Mo/Ni contents after tempering at different temperatures from 200to 600℃.It is shown that a good combination of hardness（HV）（420-450）and-20℃impact toughness（38-70J）can be obtained after quenching and tempering at 200-250 ℃.The microstructure at this temperature is lath structure with rod-like and/or flake-likeε-carbide with about 10nm in width and 100nm in length in the matrix,and the fracture mechanism is quasi-cleavage fracture combining with ductile fracture.Tempering at temperature from 300to 400℃results in the primary quasi-cleavagefracture due to the carbide transformation from resolved retained austenite and impurity segregation between laths or blocks.However,when the tempering temperature is higher than 500℃,the hardness（HV）is lower than 330 and the fracture mechanism changes to ductile fracture due to the spheroidization and coarsening of cementite.Additions of Mo and Ni have no significant effects on the carbides morphologies at low tempering temperatures,but improve the resistance to softening and embrittling for steels when tempered at above 350℃.

A dislocation-based model for cyclic plastic response of lath martensitic steels

Softening behavior of lath martensitic steels is related to the coarsening of laths and dislocation evolution during cyclic deformation.Involving the physical mechanism,we developed a dislocation-based model to study the cyclic plastic response for lath martensitic steels.For a block,we proposed an interfacial dislocation evolution model to physically present the interaction between mobile dislocations in the block and interfacial dislocations by considering the coarsening mechanism of the laths.Moreover,the evolution behavior of backstress caused by dislocation pile up at the block boundary has been considered.Then,a hierarchical model based on the elastic-viscoplastic self-consistent(EVPSC)theory is developed,which can realize the scale transition among representative volume element(RVE),prior austenite grains(PAGs)and blocks.According to the proposed model,the effective mechanical responses including the cyclic hysteretic loop and peak stress at different cycles for lath martensitic steel have been theoretically predicted and investigated.

Third generation high strength low alloy steels with improved toughness

On-line thermo mechanical controlled processing(TMCP) was conducted to develop the third generation high strength low alloy(HSLA) steel with high toughness economically.The ultra-low carbon content ensured a high level of upper shelf energy while ultrafine lath martensitic structure transformed from super-thin pancaked austenite during controlled rolling and cooling.The reduction of martensite block size decreased ductile-to-brittle transition temperature(DBTT) and compensated the strength loss due to carbon reduction.Consequently,the excellent balance of strength and toughness values was obtained as 950-1060 MPa for yield strength,180 J for Charpy V-notch impact absorbed energy at 30℃,which is much superior to that of traditional martensitic steel.Two mechanisms for the refinement of lath martensite block were proposed:One is the austenite grain refinement in the direction of thickness,and the other is the reduction in the fraction of sub-block boundaries with small misorientation and the increase in the fraction of block boundaries with large misorientation,possibly due to austenite hardening.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of HB400 Grade High Strength Abrasion Resistant Steel

High strength abrasion resistant steel plates are widely used in mining,construction and agricultural machineries.The plates are,however,usually poor in impact toughness.An attempt is made to improve the impact toughness of HB400 grade abrasion resistant steel by controlling quenching and tempering of the plates.Optimized combination of the strength and the toughness has been achieved by choosing best fit set of quenching and tempering condition.Mechanism underlying the achievement has been investigated in terms of the microstructure consisting of tempered lath martensite,retained austenite and precipitated carbides.

Microstructure and mechanical properties in core of a carburizing 20CrNi2MoV bearing steel subjected to cryogenic treatment

Microstructure and mechanical properties in core of a carburizing 20CrNi2MoV bearing steel subjected to cryogenic treatment were investigated.Conventional treatment sample was quenched and tempered at 180℃ for 2 h.Cryogenic treatment samples were quenched,cryogenically treated at−80 and−196℃ for 4 h,slowly returned to room temperature and thereafter tempered at 180℃ for 2 h,and finally tempered at 180℃ for 2 h.The scanning electron microscope,electron backscattering diffraction,X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope were adopted for microstructure characterization.The results show that cryogenic treatment increases the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries and the precipitation of finely dispersed carbides in the matrix,decreases the volume fraction of inter-lath retained austenite,and hence improves the strength and hardness.Compared with the conventional treatment,the hardness,yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the steel after cryogenic treatment are increased by 11.7%,12.6%and 18.3%,respectively,while the impact energy is decreased by 9.8%.

Ausforming effects on anisotropy of mechanical properties in HSLA martensitic steel

In order to clarify effects of prior pancaked austenitic structure on microstructure and mechanical properties of transformed martensite in ausformed steel,a super-thin pancaked austenite was processed by multi-pass rolling in a 0.03-2.6Mn0.06Nb-0.01Ti(wt%) low alloy steel.The evolution of prior pancaked austenite grain during multi-pass rolling was studied using Ni-30Fe model alloy.Related with the structure and texture in the prior super-thin pancaked austenite in Ni-30Fe alloy,the texture and anisotropy of mechanical properties of transformed martensite in the studied ausformed steel were focused on.There were mainly three kinds of rolling texture components in the super-thin pancaked austenite:Goss {110} 001,copper {112} 111 and brass {110} 112.They were further transformed into the weak {001} 110 and strong {112} 110,{111} 112 texture components in the martensitic structure.The orientation relationship(OR) of lath martensite transformation from pancaked austenite in the ausformed steel deviated larger from the exact Kurdjumov-Sachs(K-S) OR than in the case of equiaxed austenite without deformation.The tensile and yield strengths of the ausformed martensitic steel first decreased and then increased as the angle between tension direction and rolling direction increased.The main reason for the anisotropy of strength was considered as the texture component {112} 110 in martensite.However,the anisotropy of impact toughness was more complex and the main reasons for it are unknown.

Twinned Martensitic Substructure in a Water Quenched Fe–1.0 wt%C Alloy

A Fe–1.0 wt%C alloy was quenched into water from 1100 ℃,leading to lath martensite and plate martensite of body-centered tetragonal structure.Both these two martensites have the twinned substructure that generates mirror symmetric diff raction patterns with extra diff raction spots around n/3(112).The twinned substructure has the origin from twinned martensitic variants,namely twin-related crystals separated by{110},rather than{112}<111>deformation twins.Tetragonality eff ect on the electron double diff raction of twinned variants was discussed.