Effects of Alloying Elements on the Concentration Profile of Equilibrium Phases in Transformation Induced Plasticity Steel

With the two sublattices model, equilibrium compositions of ferrite (α) and austenite (γ) phases, as well as the volume percent of austenite (γ) in different TRIP steels are calculated. Concentration profiles of carbon, manganese, aluminum and silicon in these steels are also estimated under the lattice fixed frame of reference so as to identify if the equilibrium state is obtained. Through the comparison between the profiles after different time diffusion, the distribution of elements in phases is exhibited and the complex effect due to the mutual interaction of the elements on diffusion is discussed.

Hot workability of high manganese transformation induced plasticity steel

The hot deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of high manganese transformation induced plasticity steel(Fe - 20Mn - 3Si - 3Al) were investigated by using hot compression test in a temperature range from 800℃to 1 050℃and strain rate ranging from 0.01 s^(-1) to 5.0 s^(-1).The effects of temperature,strain rate,and true strain on the flow behavior and microstructures of high manganese transformation induced plasticity steel were discussed.The results show that the dynamic recrystallization occurs only at higher temperature and lower strain rate.Hot deformation behaviors of high manganese transformation induced plasticity steel were sensitive to temperature and strain rate.The apparent stress exponent and the apparent activation energy of the investigated steel were about 4.280 and 463.791 kJ/mol, respectively.The apparent activation energy of the high manganese transformation induced plasticity steel was approached to the austenitic stainless steel(400 -500 kJ/mol).The hot working equation is obtained. Hot deformation peak stress increased with increasing of the value of lnZ.Peak stress and InZ exhibits a linear variation,the linear correlation coefficient was 0.988 9.The results show that the dynamic recrystallization was prone to occur when lnZ≤43.842 26 and Z≤1.098×10^(19),and better hot deformation properties would be obtained under this condition.

Influence of isothermal bainitic processing on the mechanical properties and microstructure characterization of TRIP steel

The mechanical properties of transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel are strongly affected by the conditions of iso-thermal bainitic processing. The multiphase microstructure of TRIP steel under different conditions of isothermal bainitic processing was investigated using OM,SEM,XRD and TEM. The volume fraction of retained austenite and the carbon content in austenite were determined quantitatively using X-ray diffraction patterns. The relationship between mechanical properties and isothermal bainitic processing parameters was investigated. The stability of retained austenite was analyzed by the volume fraction of retained austenite and the carbon content in retained austenite. The experimental results show that the multiphase microstructure consists of ferrite,bainite and metastable retained austenite.To obtain good mechanical properties,the optimal conditions of isothermal bainitic temperature and holding time are 410-430°C and 180-240 s,respectively. After isothermal bainitic processing under the optimal conditions,the corresponding volume fraction of retained austenite is 5vol%-15vol%,which can provide enough retained austenite and plastic stability for austenite with high carbon content.

Macrostructural and microstructural features of 1000 MPa grade TRIP steel joint by CO_2 laser welding

Bead-on-plate CO2 laser welding of 1 000 MPa grade transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel was conducted under different welding powers, welding speeds and shield gases. The macrostructural and microstructural features of the welded joint were investigated. The increase of welding speed reduced the width of the weld bead and the porosities in the weld bead resulting from the different flow mode of melted metal in weld pool. The decrease of welding power or use of shield gas of helium also contributed to the reduction of porosity in the weld bead due to the alleviation of induced plasma formation, thus stabilizing the keyhole. The porosity formation intimately correlated with the evaporation of alloy element Mn in the base metal. The laser welded metal had same martensite microstructure as that of water-quenched base metal. The welding parameters which increased cooling rate all led to fine microstructures of the weld bead.

Characteristics of Nd： YAG laser welded 600 MPa grade TRIP steel

Microstructures and mechanical properties of Nd ： YAG laser welded transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel with tensile strength of 645 MPa were studied. Due to high cooling speed of laser welding, the weld metal mainly consists of martensite different from the base metal, which is composed of ferrite matrix with bainite and a little retained austenite. Therefore, the weld metal has maximum hardness at welded joint. The yield strength and tensile strength of welded specimens tested perpendicular to weld line were almost equal to those of the base metal. But the yield strength and tensile strength of welded specimens tested parallel with weld line were a little higher than those of the base metal. The formability of laser welded TRIP steel was decreased compared with that of the base metal.

Effect of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of laser-welded transformation induced plasticity(TRIP)steels

The weldability of 0.28C-2.0Mn-0.93Al-0.97Si(wt.%)transformation induced plasticity(TRIP)steels was investigated using a 2.5 kW CO2 laser at the welding speeds of 2,2.5 and 3 m/min.The welded joints were characterized in terms of hardness,tensile properties and microstructure.High-quality welded joints of TRIP steels with the carbon equivalent of 0.7 were obtained.Lower loss of ductility,nearly unvaried hardness of the fusion zone(FZ)and tensile strength equal to the base metal were observed with increasing welding speed.Lath martensite and lower bainite formed in FZ and the microstructure of FZ varied little with welding speed.Weld thermal simulations of heat-afected zone(HAZ)were carried out using a quenching dilatometer,and the microstructures of dilatometric samples revealed the carbon diffusion-controlled transformations in HAZ.The microstructure distribution of HAZ could be influenced by the welding speed due to the significant temperature gradient over the narrow HAZ.

Calculation on the Incubation Period of Proeutectoid Ferrite Transformation for Si-Mn TRIP Steel

The incubation period of proeutectoid ferrite transformation for Si-Mn transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steel has been calculated by the Aaronson's incubation period model for transformation.The influences of chemical compositions and hot deformation of austenite on the incubation period have been taken into consideration in the calculation,and some parameters have been proposed and validated with the measured time temperature transformation (TTT) curves from dilation tests.The calculation results show that it is essential to take into account of the effect of solute atoms on the interfacial energy in the austenite grain boundaries.For hypoeutectoid steel,the incubation period of ferrite transformation increases with the increase of C and Mn contents,and C has a greater impact than that of Mn,while the incubation period of ferrite transformation decreases with the increase of Si content.Hot deformation shortens the incubation time and promotes austenite to ferrite transformation.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of ferrite-based lightweight steel with different compositions

The microstructures and mechanical properties of ferrite-based lightweight steel with different compositions were investigated by tensile test,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,X-ray diffraction（XRD）and thermodynamic calculation（TC）.It was shown that the ferrite-based lightweight steels with 5wt.%or 8wt.%Al were basically composed of ferrite,austenite andκ-carbide.As the annealing temperature increased,the content of the austenite in the steel gradually increased,while theκ-carbide gradually decomposed and finally disappeared.The mechanical properties of the steel with 5wt.%Al and 2wt.%Cr,composed of ferrite and Cr7C3carbide at different annealing temperatures,were significantly inferior to those of others.The steel containing 5wt.%Al,annealed at 820°C for 50sthen rapidly cooled to 400°C and held for 180s,can obtain the best product of strength and elongation（PSE）of 31242MPa·%.The austenite stability of the steel is better,and its PSE is higher.In addition,the steel with higher PSE has a more stable instantaneous strain hardening exponent（n value）,which is mainly caused by the effect of transformation induced plasticity（TRIP）.When theκ-carbide or Cr7C3carbide existed in the microstructure of the steel,there was an obvious yield plateau in the tensile curve,while its PSE decreased significantly.