Product Development of High Strength and Toughness Spring Flat Steel

With the continuous development of mechanical industry,higher requirements are put forward for the comprehensive properties of spring steel.The chemical composition and production process of spring flat steel are designed to meet the requirements of high strength and high toughness of spring flat steel,through the test,the product surface quality and internal quality all meet the national standards,the performance indicators to meet user requirements.

Effect of B_(2)O_(3) enrichment on microstructural inhomogeneity of high strength steel weldments

The present work attributes the role of boron on the high strength steel submerged arc weld using an undermatching filler wire.Mild steel filler wire was used for welding in constant machine parameters setting to evaluate the joint strength due to the enrichment of boron.To change the chemical composition of the weld metal,boron trioxide powder was blended with virgin flux in various proportions(2.5%−12.5%),which led to an increase in boron weight percentage in the range of 0−0.0065.The results show that weld metals(WM)optical micrographs depict the various types of ferrites,pearlites and secondary phases like martensite-austenite(M-A).Acicular ferrite content was influenced by the boron trioxide addition.Heat affected zone(HAZ)micrographs were not showing appreciable changes with oxide enrichment.Hardness and toughness of weld metals showed the mixed trend with B_(2)O_(3) enrichment whereas,small reduction in ultimate tensile strength(UTS)and yield strength(YS)was observed.

Effect of Plastic Deformation and H_2S on Dynamic Fracture Toughness of High Strength Casing Steel

The effects of plastic deformation and H2 S on fracture toughness of high strength casing steel（C110 steel） were investigated. The studied casing specimens are as follows： original casing, plastic deformation（PD） casing and PD casing after being immersed in NACE A solution saturated with H2S（PD＋H2S）. Instrumented impact method was employed to evaluate the impact behaviors of the specimens, meanwhile, dynamic fracture toughness（JId） was calculated by using Rice model and Schindler model. The experimental results show that dynamic fracture toughness of the casing decreases after plastic deformation. Compared with that of the original casing and PD casing, the dynamic fracture toughness decreases further when the PD casing immersed in H2 S, moreover, there are ridge-shaped feature and many secondary cracks present on the fracture surface of the specimens. Impact fracture mechanism of the casing is proposed as follows： the plastic deformation results in the increase of defect density of materials where the atomic hydrogen can accumulate in reversible or irreversible traps and even recombine to form molecular hydrogen, subsequently, the casing material toughness decreases greatly.

Effect of microstructure on the low temperature toughness of high strength pipeline steels

Microstructure observations and drop-weight tear test were performed to study the microstructures and mechanical properties of two kinds of industrial X70 and two kinds of industrial X80 grade pipeline steels. The effective grain size and the fraction of high angle grain boundaries in the pipeline steels were investigated by electron backscatter diffraction analysis. It is found that the low temperature toughness of the pipeline steels depends not only on the effective grain size, but also on other microstructural factors such as martensite-austenite （MA） constituents and precipitates. The morphology and size of MA constituents significantly affect the mechanical properties of the pipeline steels. Nubby MA constituents with large size have significant negative effects on the toughness, while smaller granular MA constituents have less harmful effects. Similarly, larger Ti-rich nitrides with sharp corners have a strongly negative effect on the toughness, while fine, spherical Nb-rich carbides have a less deleterious effect. The low temperature toughness of the steels is independent of the fraction of high angle grain boundaries.

Formation mechanism of transverse crack in repair welding for thick plate of Q345 high strength steel

Transverse cracks occur usually in repair welding for thick plate of high strength steel. It needs multiple times of repair welding. The quality of production and deliver deadline will be influenced. Therefore, it is very significant to investigate the cause and control of transverse crack in repair welding. In this paper, both ends restraint crack experiment is developed to produce delay transverse crack for high strength steel. Metallographic results show that four types of cracks are found in repair welding metal zone and heat affected zone. Large chevron transverse cracks are found in repair welding zone. Lots of micro transverse cracks are found in inter-layer repair welding metal zone, root HAZ and two ends of repair welding individually. The distribution character and formation mechanism of the transverse crack are further analyzed through hardness testing and residual stress measurement.

Effect of welding processes on mechanical and microstructural characteristics of high strength low alloy naval grade steel joints

Naval grade high strength low alloy(HSLA) steels can be easily welded by all types of fusion welding processes. However, fusion welding of these steels leads to the problems such as cold cracking, residual stress, distortion and fatigue damage. These problems can be eliminated by solid state welding process such as friction stir welding(FSW). In this investigation, a comparative evaluation of mechanical(tensile, impact,hardness) properties and microstructural features of shielded metal arc(SMA), gas metal arc(GMA) and friction stir welded(FSW) naval grade HSLA steel joints was carried out. It was found that the use of FSW process eliminated the problems related to fusion welding processes and also resulted in the superior mechanical properties compared to GMA and SMA welded joints.

Low temperature impact toughness of laser hybrid welded joint of high strength low alloy steel

High strength low alloy steel with 16 mm thickness was welded by using high power laser hybrid welding. Microstrueture was characterized by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy （ SEM ） , transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and selected area electron diffraction （SAED）. Low temperature impact toughness was estimated by using Charpy V-notch impact samples selected from the upper part and the lower part at the same heterogeneous joint. Results show that the low temperature impact absorbed energies of weld metal are （202,180,165 J） of upper samples and （178,145,160 J） of lower samples, respectively. All of them increase compared to base metal. The embrittlement of HAZ does not occur. Weld metal primarily consists of refined carbide free bainite and a little granular bainite since laser hybrid welding owns the character of low heat input. Retained austenite constituent film ＂locates among the lath structure of bainitie ferrite. Refined bainitic ferrite lath and retained austenite constituent film provide better low temperature impact toughness compared to base metal.

Microstructural Transformation and Precipitation of an Ultra-high Strength Steel under Continuous Cooling

We investigated phase transition and precipitation of ultra-high strength steel（UHSS）in a new ＂short process＂ with controlled rolling and controlled cooling.Thermalexpansion test combined with metallographic observation was used to research the continuous cooling transformation（CCT）curve.Moreover,the microstructuraltransformation and precipitation law was revealed by morphologicalobservation and alloying elements by electron probe micro-analyzer（EPMA）.Transmission electron microscopy（TEM）was utilized to analyze the composition and grain orientation of microstructure.The study showed that the measured criticaltransformation temperatures of Ac1 and Ac3 were 746 and 868 ℃,respectively.The CCT curve indicated that the undercooled austenite was transformed into proeutectoid ferrite and bainite with HV 520 in a broad range of cooling rate 0.1^（-1） ℃·s^（-1）.When subjected to a cooling rate of 1 ℃·s^（-1）,the undercooled austenite was divided into small-sized blocks by formed martensite.With further increase of cooling rate,micro-hardness increased dramatically,the microstructure of specimen was mainly lathe bainite（LB）,granular bainite（GB）,lath martensite（LM）and residualaustenite.By diffraction test analysis,it was identified that there was K-S orientation relationship between martensite and austenite for {110}_α//{111}_γ,{111}_α//{101}_γ.EPMA clearly showed that carbon diffused adequately due to staying for a long time at high temperature with a lower cooling rate of 2 ℃·s-1.Phase transition drive force was lower and the residualaustenite existed in the block form of Martensite austenite island（M-A）.With the increase of cooling rate to 10 ℃·s^（-1）,the block residualaustenite reduced,the carbon content of residualaustenite increased and α phase around the residualaustenite formed into a low carbon bainite form.

Laser Beam Welding of 600 MPa Quenched and Tempered High-Strength Steel

Conventional fusion arc welding of high-strength quenched and tempered steel can be improved through the use of non-conventional laser beam welding. This article presents the investigations of autogenous bead on plate and butt CO2 Laser Welding (LW) of 7 mm thick high-strength quenched and tempered low alloy SM570 (JIS) steel plates. The influence of laser welding parameters, mainly welding speed, defocusing distance and shielding gas flow rate on the weld profile, i.e., weld zone penetration depth and width, microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints was determined. All welded joints showed smooth and uniform weld beads free from superficial porosity and undercuts. The selected best welding conditions were a laser power of 5.0 kW, welding speed of 500 mm/min, argon gas shielding flow rate of 30 L/min and a defocusing distance of -0.5 mm. It was observed that these conditions gave complete penetration and minimized the width of the weld bead. The microstructure of the welded joints was evaluated by light optical microscopy. The weld metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) near weld metal achieved maximum hardness (355 HV). The tensile fractured samples showed the ductile mode of failure and ultimate tensile strength of 580 MPa.

Development of a New Kind of High Strength Spring Steel

A new kind of high strength, high toughness and high plasticity spring steel has been developed. The strength, the reduction of area and the elongation of the steel are all higher than those of the steel 60Si2CrVA. The decarburization resistance and the sag resistance are also higher than those of the steel 60Si2CrVA. It has good hardenability, and is suitable for making springs with big cross section. The bogie springs made of this kind of steel have passed 2×106 cycles without broken under the conditions of maximum stress of 906 MPa and the minimum stress of 388 MPa.

Progress in the technological development of oxide metallurgy for manufacturing steel plates with excellent HAZ toughness

In the present study, the market needs for the （HAZ） toughness are analyzed, and the mechanism of the development of steel plates with excellent heat affected zone decrease in the HAZ toughness during high-heat input welding is discussed.The important countermeasure for improving the HAZ toughness is to employ the technology of oxide metallurgy ,namely,to make use of fine inclusion particles for improving the microstructure of HAZ. The progress and theories of oxide metallurgy technologies developed in the Nippon Steel Corporation （ NSC）, the JFE Steel Corporation and the Kobe Steel Group are illustrated. Steel plates developed by these three companies with excellent HAZ toughness are introduced.

Study of welding technology on Baosteel high-strength heavy steel Bweldy620QL6

This study aims to conduct the weldability test for a high-strength structural steel, Bweldy620QL6, developed by Baosteel. This steel was subjected to welding,and the effects of two kinds of shielding gas,a binary gas of 80% Ar ＋ 20% CO, and ternary gas of 90% Ar ＋ 8% CO, ＋ 2% O2, on the performance of the welded joints of high-strength heavy steel were compared. The results show that Bweldy620QL6 has good weldability,and the joints obtained using binary gas and ternary gas meet common requirements.

Development of high strength heavy plate A517Q for offshore platform rack

This paper introduces the research and development of high strength A517Q developed by Baosteel for platform rack,with micro-alloying adding suitable quenching and tempering process,trial thickness of 127 - 178 mm high-strength A517Q.The trial plate crossing thickness has a uniform mechanical properties, yield strength greater than 700 MPa,tensile strength than 790 MPa,the Charpy impact than 90 J at -40℃, aging impact than 69 J,has high strength and excellent low temperature impact toughness,While the plate has excellent resistance to crack tearing ability of low-temperature,NDT is less than -45℃.The Developing heavy plates had been used for manufacturing racks of 200-foot jack-up offshore platform,the performance meeting the requirements of the ABS,CCS classification societies.

Effect of Thermal Cycle on Microstructure and Fracture Morphology in HAZ of HQ130 Steel

The effect of different peak temperature(Tp) and cooling time (t8/5) on microstructure, hardness, impact toughness and fracture morphology in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of HQ130 steel was studied by using weld thermo-simulation test. Experimental results indicate that the impact toughness and hardness decrease with the decrease of Tpor increase of t8/5 under the condition of a single thermal cycle. There is a brittle zone in the vicinity of Tp= 800℃, where the impact toughness is considerably low. There is a softened zone in the vicinity of Tp=700℃, where the hardness decreases but the toughness increases. In the practical application of multi-layer and multipass welding, the welding heat input should be strictly limited (t8/5≤20s) so as to reduce the softness and brittleness in the HAZ of-HQ130 steel.

EFFECTS OF THERMAL CYCLE ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND FRACTOGRAPHY IN HAZ OF HQ130 STEEL

The effect of different peak temperature T_P) and cooling time (t_(8/5)) on hardness,impact toughness and fracture morphology in the heat--affected zone (HAZ) of HQ130steel was studied by using welding thermo--simulation test. Experimental results showthat the impact toughness and hardness decrease with the decrease of T_P or increase oft_(8/5) under the condition of a single thermal cycle. There is a brittle zone in the vicinityof T_P=800℃, where the impact toughness is considerebly low. There is softened zonein vicinity of T_P=700℃, Where the harkness decreases but the toughness increases. Inthe practical application of multi--layer and multi--pass welding, the welding heat inputshould be strictly limited (t_(8/5)≤20s) so as to reduce the softness and brittleness in theHAZ of HQ130 steel.

Microstructure development in high-strength low-alloy steel welds

The reliability of steel welds becomes more critical issue with increasing steel strength,because brittle phases are more likely to form in the weld metals and heat-affected zone(HAZ) and thereby the toughness and ductility of the welds are degraded.Therefore,refinement of microstructure and minimization of the brittle phases are necessary to improve the reliability of the high-strength steel welds.In this presentation,microstructure formation that controls the toughness of weld metals and HAZ in high-strength low-alloy(HSLA) steel welds is reviewed and possible routes to the improvement of the weld microstructure and weld toughness are discussed.

Effect of W on microstructure of high strength and toughness steels

The effect of W on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of ultrahigh strength low alloy steels was carried out. The microstructure of 30Cr3Si2Mn2NiMoNb and 30Cr3Si2Mn2NiMoNbW steels under quenched conditions were investigated by metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, X-ray diffrac- tion （XRD）, and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. Thermodynamic cal- culation was also conducted. The results showed that the addition of W made undissolved carbides more and finer, which exerted strong pinning force on migrat- ing packet boundary and improved tensile strength significantly. M6C particles in 30Cr3Si2Mn2NiMoNb steel were disappeared above 1193 K, while the M6C particles in 30Cr3Si2Mn2NiMoNbW steel were disappeared above 1253 K, the calculation results were in agreement with the experimental.

Effect of Boron on CGHAZ Microstructure and Toughness of High Strength Low Alloy Steels

Effect of boron on the microstructure and impact toughness in the coarse-grained heat-affected zone（CGHAZ）of two high strength low alloy steels,boron-free and boron-containing,was investigated by means of weld thermal simulation test.The result shows that,for the boron-free steel,a microstructure consisting of grain boundary ferrite degenerates pearlite and granular bainite for longer t8/5（the cooling time from 800 to 500 ℃）,while lath bainite for shorter t8/5.For the boron-containing steel,granular bainite is dominant for a wide range of t8/5.Continuous cooling transformation（CCT）study on the CGHAZ indicates that the transformation start temperature decreases by about 50-100℃under different t8/5,for the boron-containing steel compared with the boron-free steel.The presence of boron suppresses the nucleation of ferrite at prior austenite grain boundaries and hence enlarges the range of t8/5for granular bainite transformation.However,the addition of boron deteriorates the impact toughness of CGHAZ,which may be due to a markedly increased fraction of martensite-austenite（M-A）constituents and decreased fraction of high angle grain boundaries.

THE VALENCE ELECTRON STRUCTURES OF MARTENSITE IN LOW ALLOY ULTRAHIGH-STRENGTH STEELS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON STRENGTH AND TOUGHNESS

Ⅰ. THE VALENCE ELECTRON STRUCTURES OF MARTENSITE IN LOW ALLOY ULTRAHIGH-STRENGTH STEELS AND THE SEGREGATION OF C-ME IN MARTENSITEThe valence electron structures ofmartensite in 30CrMnSiNi2A and Gc-4 steels can be established based on Refs. [1—3]. To be brief, only σ, nA and ncD are listed in Table 1, which are the values of electron structures of martensite in 30CrMnSi2A and Gc-4 steels.