Accelerating bainite transformation by concurrent pearlite formation in a medium Mn steel:Experiments and modelling

Bainite transformation has yet to be utilized and even thoroughly studied in medium Mn steels.Here,we investigate the isothermal bainite transformation in a 10Mn steel at 450°C experimentally and theoretically,focusing on the effect of dislocations introduced by warm deformation.We show that the bainite transformation in the studied medium Mn steel exhibits extremely sluggish kinetics(on a time scale of days),concurrent with the pearlite formation.The introduced dislocations can significantly accelerate bainite transformation kinetics while also facilitating the pearlite reaction.This is likely the first report on the simultaneous occurrence of these two solid-state reactions in medium Mn steels.With respect to the roles of dislocations in the acceleration of bainite transformation observed in this work,we propose a new‘carbon depletion mechanism’,in which dislocations-stimulated pearlite formation makes a twofold contribution:facilitating the formation of bainitic ferrite sub-units to further enhance the autocatalytic effect and preventing the carbon enrichment in the remaining austenite.On this basis,a physical model is developed to quantitatively understand the bainite transformation kinetics considering the effect of concurrent pearlite formation,revealing good agreements between model descriptions and experiment results.Our findings,herein,offer fundamental insights into the bainite transformation in medium Mn steels and uncover a previously unidentified role played by introduced dislocations in influencing the kinetics of bainite formation,which may guide its future application in manipulating microstructure for the development of advanced high-strength steels.

Kinetics of austenite growth and bainite transformation during reheating and cooling treatments of high strength microalloyed steel produced by sub-rapid solidification

First,strip cast samples of high strength microalloyed steel with sub-rapid solidification characteristics were prepared by simulated strip casting technique.Next,the isothermal growth of austenite grain during the reheating treatment of strip casts was observed in situ through confocal laser scanning microscope(CLSM).The results indicated that the time exponent of grains growth suddenly rise when the isothermal temperature higher than 1000℃.And the activation energy for austenite grain growth were calculated to be 538.0 kJ/mol in the high temperature region(above 1000℃)and 693.2 kJ/mol in the low temperature region(below 1000℃),respectively.Then,the kinetics model of austenite isothermal growth was established,which can predict the austenite grain size during isothermal hold very well.Besides,high density of second phase particles with small size was found during the isothermal hold at the low temperature region,leading to the refinement of austenite grain.After isothermal hold at different temperature for 1800 s,the bainite transformation in microalloyed steel strip was also observed in situ during the continuous cooling process.And growth rates of bainite plates with different nucleation positions and different prior austenite grain size(PAGS)were calculated.It was indicated that the growth rate of the bainite plate is not only related to the nucleation position but also to the PAGS.

Development of and Perspective on High-Performance Nanostructured Bainitic Bearing Steel

Bearings are the most important component of nearly all mechanical equipment, as they guarantee the steady running of the equipment, which is especially important for high-end equipment such as highspeed trains and shield tunneling machines. Requirements regarding the quality of bearings are increasing with the rapid development in technology. A country’s bearings manufacturing level directly reflects the level of that country’s steel metallurgy and machinery manufacturing. The performance of the bearing steel is the critical factor that determines the quality of a bearing. The development of new bearing steel with higher performance is the ambition of material researchers and the expectation of the manufacturing industry. Many famous bearing manufacturing enterprises are competing to develop the new generation of bearing steel. Nanostructured bainitic bearing steel (NBBS), which is a newly developed bearing steel, not only possesses high strength and toughness, but also exhibits excellent wear resistance and rolling contact fatigue (RCF) resistance. In recent years, relevant achievements in NBBS in China have led to significant progress in this field. NBBS was first used in China to manufacture large bearings for wind turbines and heavy-duty bearings, with excellent performance. As a result, NBBS and its corresponding heat-treatment process have been included in the national and industry standards for the first time. The bearing industry considers the exploitation of NBBS to be epoch-making, and has termed this kind of bearing as the second generation of bainitic bearing. In this paper, the development of NBBS is reviewed in detail, including its advantages and disadvantages. Further research directions for NBBS are also proposed.

Recent Development of Air-Cooled Bainitic Steels Containing Manganese

The superiorities of air-cooled bainitic steels were described. A series of air-cooled bainitic steels containing manganese were developed and presented, which include low carbon granular bainitic steels, low carbon grain-boundary allotriomorphic ferrite/granular bainite dual phase steels, medium and medium high carbon bainite/martensite dual phase steel, low carbon carbide free bainite/martensite dual phase steels and casting bainitic steels. The development of ultra-low carbon bainitic steels in China was also introduced.

In situ measured growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitic steel

The growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitie steel were investigated by in situ observation. The lengthening rates of ferrite bainite during both cooling and isothermal holding processes were observed and the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries, within grains and on preformed bainite were measured. It is indicated that the lengthening rates of bainite plates during the cooling and isothermal processes were different, and that the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at different types of sites also demon- strated diversity. The bainite plates initiating at [vain boundaries during cooling grew the fastest, while the plates nucleating on preformed bainite did the slowest. However, the growth rate of the bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries during isothermal transformation de- creased the most, whereas the bainite plates initiating within grains grew the fastest. In addition, the growth rate of ferrite bainite in the study supported the diffusion transformation mechanism of bainite from the viewooint of ~rowth rate.

In situ observations of austenite grain growth in Fe-C-Mn-Si super bainitic steel

In situ observations of austenite grain growth in Fe-C-Mn-Si super bainitic steel were conducted on a high-temperature laser scanning confocal microscope during continuous heating and subsequent isothermal holding at 850, 1000, and 1100℃ for 30 min. A grain growth model was proposed based on experimental results. It is indicated that the austenite grain size increases with austenitizing temperature and holding time. When the austenitizing temperature is above 1100℃, the austenite grains grow rapidly, and abnormal austenite grains occur. In addition, the effect of heating rate on austenite grain growth was investigated, and the relation between austenite grains and bainite morphology after bainitic transformations was also discussed.

Refinement of packet size in low carbon bainitic steel by special thermo-mechanical control process

The packet size of bainitic steel can be refined by a specialrelaxation-precipitation-control phase transformation (RFC) technology. When processed by RPCprocess, the low carbon bainitic steel composes of two kinds of main intermediate transformationphases. One is ultra-fine lath-like bainitic ferrite and the lath is less than 1μm in width andabout 6 μm in length; the alignment of laths forms a refined packet, and the size of packets isabout 5-7 μm in length and about 3-4μm in width. The other is acicular structure. The morphologyand distribution of these acicular structures are influenced by relaxation process, the thin andshort acicular structures cut the prior austenite grain and refine the bainitic packet size. For theoptimum relaxation time, the packet size can be refined to the finest. The mechanical propertiesare influenced by relaxation time and the 800 MPa grade low carbon bainitic steel with excellenttoughness can be obtained by RPC process.

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.

INFLUENCE OF HOT DEFORMATION ON CONTINUOUSCOOLING BAINITIC TRANSFORMATION IN A LOWCARBON STEEL

The influence of hot deformation conditions on continuous cooling bainitic transformation has been investigated for a low carbon microalloyed steel. The CCT diagrams show that deformation in unrecrpstallized austcnite ation can accelerate transformation process. Bainitic transformation in intermediate transformation temperature region is prominent, and the proeutectoid polygonal ferrite transformation at evelated high temperature is suppressed. According to optical and TEM analyses, low carbon bainitic ferrite is characterized by granular and lathlike ferrite, based on the cooling rate and deformation conditions. For nondeformation, groaps of coarse parallel ferrite lath form from the prior austenite grain boundaries with the same crystallographic orientation. For heavy deformaton, cell structure within the austenite grains due to the high dislocation density formed, which provides more nucleation sites for bainite ferrite. So deformation can discontinue the growth of ferrite laths and decrease the length of ferrite laths.

Effect of tempering temperature on the mechanical properties and microstructure of an copper-bearing low carbon bainitic steel

The effect of tempering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ultra-high strength, copperbearing, low-carbon bainitic steel has been investigated in the experiment. The results showed that the microstructure was mainly the laths of bainite in the as-quenched steel. The bainitic laths were restored and combined after the steel tempered at various tempera- tures. There were rnartensite/austenite （M/A） islands and numerous dislocations within and between the bainitic laths, while very t-me precipitates of ε-Cu were also observed within the laths. With increasing the tempered temperature from 400 to 600℃, the yield strength （YS） increased from 877 to 957 MPa, whereas the ultimate tensile strength （UTS） decreased from 1020 to 985 MPa. The Charpy V-notch （CVN） varied from 68.5 to 42 J, and the value was minimal for the steel tempered at 500℃. 2008 University of Science and Technology Beijing. All rights reserved.

Structure Character of M-A Constituent in CGHAZ of New Ultra-Low Carbon Bainitic Steel under Laser Welding Conditions

800 MPa grade new ultra-low carbon bainitic （NULCB） steel is the recently developed new generation steel. The microstructure in the coarse-grained heat affected zone （CGHAZ） of NULCB steel under laser welding conditions was investigated by thermal simulation. The influence of the cooling time from 800℃ to 500℃.t8/5 （0.3-30 s）, on the microstructure of the CGHAZ was discussed. The experimental results indicate that the microstructnre of the CGHAZ is only the granular bainite which consists of bainitic ferrite （BF） lath and M-A constituent while t8/5 is 0.3-30 s. The M-A constituent consists of twinned martensite and residual austenite, and the change of the volume fraction of the residual austenite in the M-A constituent is very small when t8/5 is between 0.3 and 30 s. The morphology of the M-A constituent obviously changes with the variation of t8/5.As t8/5 increases, tile average width, gross and shape parameter of the M-A constituent increase, while the line density of the M-A constituent decreases.

Complex Precipitation Mechanism of Ti-Nb-V Microalloyed Bainitic Base High Strength Steel

The addition of high Ti（>0.1%） in microalloyed bainitic high strength steel was designed, and the precipitation morphology of steels with different Ti, Nb, and V contents was studied by utilizing transmission electron microscopy（TEM）. Based on the classical nucleation-crystal growth theory and the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation, the precipitation thermodynamic and kinetic model of second phase particles in austenite was established in the form of（Nbx,Vy,Tiz）C, and the complex precipitation mechanism of second phase particles was emphatically studied. The experimental results show that the complex precipitation particles could be divided into two categories: the coarser particles with about 100 nm grain size and the independent complex precipitation particles in the form of（Nb,V,Ti）C with 35-50 nm grain size. The latter has a better precipitation strengthening effect, and the calculated PTT curve shows a typical "C" shape. When the deformed storage energy is 3 820 J?mol-1, the fastest precipitation temperature of calculated PTT curve is 925 °C, and the calculated result is essentially consistent with experimental values. The increase of Ti content increased the nose point temperature and expanded the range of fastest precipitation temperature.

Effect of lower bainite/martensite/retained austenite triplex microstructure on the mechanical properties of a low-carbon steel with quenching and partitioning process

We present a study concerning Fe-0. 176C-1.31Si-1.58Mn-0.26Al-0.3Cr （wt%） steel subjected to a quenching and partitioning （Q＆P） process. The results of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and tensile tests demon- strate that the microstructures primarily consist of lath martensite, retained austenite, lower bainite （LB）, and a small amount of tempered martensite; moreover, few twin austenite grains were observed. In the microstrucmre, three types of retained austenite with different sizes and morphologies were observed： blocky retained austenite （-300 nm in width）, film-like retained austenite （80-120 nm in width）, and ul- tra-fine film-like retained austenite （30-40 nm in width）. Because of the effect of the retained austenite/martensite/LB triplex microstructure, the specimens prepared using different quenching temperatures exhibit high ultimate tensile strength and yield strength. Furthermore, the strength effect of LB can partially counteract the decreasing strength effect of martensite. The formation of LB substantially reduces the amount of retained austenite. Analyses of the retained austenite and the amount of blocky retained austenite indicated that the carbon content is critical to the total elongation of Q＆P steel.

In situ observation of the effect of Al N particles on bainitic transformation in a carbide-free medium carbon steel

The bainitic transformation of the steels with different mass fractions of N, ~0.002% and 0.021%, was observed in situ by using high-temperature metalloscope. Micrometer-and nanometer-sized aluminum nitride(AlN) particles were found in the steel with 0.021% N.Grain boundaries, the interior of the grains, and Al N particles were used as initial nucleation sites of bainitic ferrite, and bainitic ferrite subunits served as new nucleation sites to induce secondary nucleation. The lengthening rate of bainitic ferrite varied at different nucleation sites, which was controlled by the repeated nucleation and growth of bainitic subunits. The Al N particles not only provided several nucleation sites, but also increased the autocatalytic effect on the transformation, further shortening the incubation period, promoting the bainitic transformation, and refining the bainitic microstructure.

Mechanical properties and wear resistance of ultrafine bainitic steel under low austempering temperature

The mechanical properties and wear resistance of the ultrafine bainitic steel austempered at various temperatures were investigated.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the microstructure.The worn surfaces were observed via laser scanning confocal microscopy and SEM.Results indicated that,under low austempering temperatures,the mechanical properties differed,and the wear resistance remained basically unchanged.The tensile strength of the samples was above 1800 MPa,but only one sample austempered at 230°C had an elongation of more than 10%.The weight loss of samples was approximately linear with the cycles of wear and nonlinear with the loads.The samples showed little difference in wear resistance at different isothermal temperatures,whereas the thickness of their deformed layers varied greatly.The results are related to the initial hardness of the sample and the stability of the retained austenite.Meanwhile,the experimental results showed that the effect of austempering temperature on the wear resistance of ultrafine bainitic steel can be neglected under low applied loads and low austempering temperature.

Fine Microstructure of Bainitic Ferrite in Bainitic Steel

The fine microstructures of medium and medium-high carbon bainitic steels were observed and analyzed by high resolution electron microscope(HREM).The investigation results show that there are retained austenitic films with different appearances and sizes in bainitic ferrite laths.The boundaries of different structure levels are separated and encircled by retained austenitic films.The fine structure units and their sizes of different structure levels in the bainitic ferrite were determined by retained austenitic films.The bainitic ferrite laths are composed of different structure level sublaths,subunits and elementary units(or so called sub-subunits).The dimensions of most sublaths,subunits and elementary units are 25-80 nm,25-80 nm and 5.0-30 nm,respectively.

Effects of Mn on Microstructures and Properties of Hot Rolled Low Carbon Bainitic Steels

Two kinds of Mn-Si-Mo low carbon steels were designed to study the effects of Mn on the microstructures and properties of hot rolled low carbon bainitic steels.To reduce the production cost,a very low Mo content of 0.13%was added in both steels.After hot rolling,the mechanical properties of samples were tested.Microstructure was observed and analyzed by optical microscope and transmission electron microscope.The results show that the strength of tested steels increases with the increase in Mn content,while the elongation decreases.When Mn content increases,the bainite microstructure increases.The results can provide a theoretical basis for composition design and industrial production of low cost low carbon bainitic steels.

Influence of Creep Strength of Weld on Interfacial Creep Damage of Dissimilar Welded Joint between Martensitic and Bainitic Heat-Resistant Steel

The mechanical properties, creep rupture strength, creep damage and failure characteristics of dissimilar metal welded joint （DMWJ） between martensitic （SA213T91） and bainitic heat-resistant steel （12Cr2MoWVTiB（G102）） have been investigated by means of pulsed argon arc welding, high temperature accelerated simulation, mechanical and creep rupture test, and scanning electronic microscope （SEM）. The results show that there is a marked drop of mechanical properties of undermatching joint, and low ductility cracking along weld/G102 interface is induced due to creep damage. Creep rupture strength of overmatching joint is the least. The mechanical properties of medium matching joint are superior to those of overmatching and undermatching joint, and creep damage and failure tendency along the interface of weld/G102 are lower than those of overmatching and undermatching joint after accelerated simulation for 500 h, 1 000 h, 1 500 h, and the creep rupture strength of medium matching joint is the same as that of undermatching joint. Therefore, it is reasonable that the medium matching material is used for dissimilar welded joint between martensitic and bainitic steel.

Impact Toughness Scattering of Bainitic Steel in the Ductile-brittle Transition Temperature Region

The impact toughness scattering in the ductile-brittle transition temperature （DBTT） region was experimentally examined on mixed and homogeneous grains of low alloy high strength bainitic steel under dynamic loading conditions. The results revealed that the mixed grain microstructure had larger impact toughness scattering than the homogeneous one, and the impact toughness scattering was mainly caused by the scattering in the cleavage fractttre stress σf. The value of σf. is related to the size of the microcrack formed in the bainitic packet. When a bainitic packet-sized microcrack propagates from one bainitic packet into the adjacent packet, cleavage fracture occurs. The cleavage fracture is controlled by the few coarse packets in the microstructures, and the σf scattering is influenced by the varied distances/relative locations between these coarse packets, and homogenizing the distribution of fine bainitic packet sizes is an effective way to reduce the impact toughness scattering in the DBTT region.

Ratcheting led surface failure of medium carbon bainitic steel under mild operation conditions

The behavior of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) of medium carbon bainitic back-up roll steel was investigated under its actual work conditions. A kind of asperity-scale surface originated cracks, which is lying parallel or at an acute angle to the surfaces, initiated after unidirectional plastic flow of the material in thin surface layer had occurred. Theoretical analysis indicates that they nucleate due to plastic ratcheting induced by asperity contact stresses, and consequently are named as ratcheting cracks. After nucleating and initially propagating, they arrest at some depth and resume propagating till about 70%-80% of the RCF failure life by initially turning parallel to contact surfaces. Their behavior of initiation and propagation is confined to a thin layer prior to the formation of surface distress. According to the critical principle of the preventive grinding strategy, removing the asperity influenced surface layer at about 70%-80% of the RCF failure life can effectively prevent the ratcheting cracks from developing into surface distress, which can lead to the formation of macro-RCF failure soon.