The microstmcture and mechanical properties of SA533B low-alloy steel were investigated under different cooling and tempering conditions. Steel plates cooled at 40℃/s and 25℃/min,exibited microstructures of auto-tem...The microstmcture and mechanical properties of SA533B low-alloy steel were investigated under different cooling and tempering conditions. Steel plates cooled at 40℃/s and 25℃/min,exibited microstructures of auto-tempered martensite and bainite, respectively. During tempering, the strength of steels quenched at the two different cooling rates decreased continuously with an increase in the tempering parameter, which is defined by T (20 + log t), where T is the temperature and t is the holding time. However, the rate of change of the strength scales with the degree to which the virgin microstructure deviates from equilibrium. The strength of the martensitic steel decreased faster and finally obtained a value close to that of the bainitic steel. The ductility and toughness gradually improved during tempering, passed through a maximum value, and finally diminished. The level of maximum toughness was also found to depend on the cooling rates of SA533B steel. The high cooling rate with a microstructure of auto-tempered martensite exhibited a larger toughness and a lower ductile-brittle transition temperature than the low cooling rate with a microstructure of bainite, because the former had finer precipitated cementite particles at quenching and a slower coarsing rate during tempering.展开更多
基金supported by the Key Research Project of Baosteel (No. R07EBEJF40)
文摘The microstmcture and mechanical properties of SA533B low-alloy steel were investigated under different cooling and tempering conditions. Steel plates cooled at 40℃/s and 25℃/min,exibited microstructures of auto-tempered martensite and bainite, respectively. During tempering, the strength of steels quenched at the two different cooling rates decreased continuously with an increase in the tempering parameter, which is defined by T (20 + log t), where T is the temperature and t is the holding time. However, the rate of change of the strength scales with the degree to which the virgin microstructure deviates from equilibrium. The strength of the martensitic steel decreased faster and finally obtained a value close to that of the bainitic steel. The ductility and toughness gradually improved during tempering, passed through a maximum value, and finally diminished. The level of maximum toughness was also found to depend on the cooling rates of SA533B steel. The high cooling rate with a microstructure of auto-tempered martensite exhibited a larger toughness and a lower ductile-brittle transition temperature than the low cooling rate with a microstructure of bainite, because the former had finer precipitated cementite particles at quenching and a slower coarsing rate during tempering.