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.

Precise control of bainite micro-morphology and the effects on the mechanical properties of ultrahigh-strength complex-phase sheet steel

Bainite, the main microstructure of ultrahigh-strength complex-phase(CP) sheet steel, usually exhibits various micro-morphologies when subjected to different austempering treatments.In the current study, conventional austempering treatment at the bainite nose temperature resulted in two bainite types with distinct micro-morphologies: polygonal blocky bainite and acicular bainite, which resulted in large fluctuations in the mechanical properties of CP steel, particularly yield strength and hole expansion ratio.Therefore, the precise control of bainite micro-morphology was studied and applied to separate the two bainite types through austempering optimization.The two bainite types of different micro-morphologies had different effects on the mechanical properties of CP steel: the acicular bainite favored hole expansion and flangeability but deteriorated ductility, while the polygonal blocky bainite favored ductility but deteriorated hole expansion and flangeability.Accordingly, two types of ultrahigh-strength CP steels of different mechanical properties can be stably manufactured through the precise control of bainitic micro-morphology to satisfy the specific demands of vehicle components in terms of the mechanical properties of CP steels.

Test and application of 60 kg·m^(−1) bainite rails for heavy-haul railway

Purpose-In order to develop high-strength,high-toughness and high-wear-resistance rails suitable for the development and application of heavy-haul railways.Design/methodology/approach-Based on the trial production of 60 kg·m^(−1) bainite rails,the Zeiss inverted optical microscope,transmission electron microscope and static hydraulic universal tester were used to test the microstructure and property of rail base metal and welded joints.Meanwhile,a trial laying of rails,wing rails of frogs and switch rails for turnouts was performed to systematically analyze their strength,toughness and wear resistance.Findings-The results show that the base metal of 60 kg·m^(−1) bainite rail is of a uniform microstructure,with a carbide-free bainite matrix,a few of stable residual austenite and M/A islands,and it features high hardness,good wear resistance and good strength-toughness balance.The welded joint is of a uniform microstructure and has good properties.Originality/value-A bainite rail,laid in a curve section of heavy-haul railway is able to serve for 48 months with a gross traffic tonnage of nearly 600 million tons,whose service life is more than one time longer than that of pearlite rail;the service life of the wing rail of frog and the switch rail for turnout with 60 kg·m^(−1) bainite rails is 3-4 times longer than that with U75V rails,and no serious damage occurs.The bainite rails also have strong peeling and spalling resistance.

EFFECT OF SILICON ON PRODUCING DUCTILE IRON WITH COMPLEX STRUCTURE OF BAINITE AND MARTENSITE

This paper deals with an important role of silicon in producing ductile iron with quenched complex structure of bainite and martensite. The samples are cast in permanent mold and quenched in solution of sodium silicate. The result of thc experiments shows that the austenizing temperature should rise with increasing silicon content, otherwise much undissolved ferrite is present in the matrix after quenching. However the undissolvec ferrite can be decreased greatly or even eliminated by adding appropriate amount of ooron. On this condition, the amount of bainite gets increasing and the amount of residual austenite decreasing with the silicon cortent increasing. An approach has also been made to the mechanism of the effect of silicon on the transformation of bainite in ductile iron. The T.T.T. curves measured show that the increase of sllicon content causes the curve to shift to the left. This is quite different from the fact in steel.

New Duplex Microstructure of Grain Boundary Allotriomorphic Ferrite/Granular Bainite

As-rolled microstructure and mechanical properties of a new kind of grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite/granular bainite duplex steel plate and its crack propagation behavior were investigated in comparison with simple granular bainitic steel plate. These new duplex plate steels possess better combination of strength and toughness than granular bainite plate steels under the conditions of conventional rolling and air-cooling. The observation of fatigue crack propagation behaviors showed that the existence of proper grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite increases the compatible deformation ability of duplex microstructure and leads to the formation of crack branching and curving route, and it has an evidently blunting effect on microcrack tip and results in higher impact toughness. In addition, the new duplex steel plate also has good weldability as hot-rolled high strength low alloy structural steel.

EFFECT OF THE CONTROLLED ROLLING CONTROLLED COOLING ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF THE BAINITE MICRO ALLOYED ENGINEERING STEEL

The continuous cooling transformation of hot deformation austenite austenite of test steel and the effect of different processing schedules of controlled rolling and controlled cooling on the strength and ductility have been studied. The theory and the experiment base are presented for controlled rolling and controlled cooling of the SBL micro alloyed engineering steel.

Effect of Tempering Temperature on Strength and Toughness of Novel Carbide-Free Bainite/Martensite Duplex Phase Steel

The effect of tempering temperature on strength and toughness of the novel carbide free bainite/martensite (CFB/M) duplex steel was investigated. The results showed that the CFB/M mixed microstructure has better tempering stability than single martensite microstructure. The steel has good combination of strength and toughness after tempering at 350 ℃, because the CFB in CFB/M mixed microstructure separates the original austenite grains and causes the refinement of lath martensite, and thermal and mechanical stable retained austenite in CFB is deformed absorbing energy and blocking crack propagation.

DEFORMATION AND MICROFRACTURE OF GRANULAR BAINITE

Relationship among deformation history,fracture process and stress distribution of granularbainite has been investigated.The main process of fracture of granular bainite is the forma-tion.growth and coalescence of the microvoids.Even though the microcracks have formed atthe earlier stage of deformation,they are not fateful for fracture because in the successivedeformation stage the microcracks change their orientation toward the tensile axis.Thestrain hardening rate of granular bainite has a minimal value during the deformation process.Before and after the strain of the minimal value,the material shows different stress distribu-tion and microfracture mechanism.

EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON CORROSION FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF A LOW CARBON BAINITE STEEL

The behaviour towards corrosion fatigue of low carbon bainite steel with variousmicrostructures after tempered at different temperatures has been examined. The susceptibilityof the steel to corrosion fatigue may be improved by tempering at 300℃.

MIDRIB AND LEDGE OF BAINITE IN A Cu-Zn-Al-Mn ALLOY

The bainitic transformation in a Cu-Zn-Al-Mn alloy has been examined with TEM.The re-sults show that the stacking faults and also the bainitic midrib are found at the beginning ofbainite formation in the alloy.The stacking fault planes can pass continuously through themidrib in bainite.The growth ledges occur at the broad faces and rims of bainite.The broadand narrow faces of th ledges are parallel to the fault plane and habit plane respectively.Boththeir Miller indices are {110}B2.The moving direction of ledges is parallel to the fault plane.It may be deduced that the bainite in alloy are initially formed by shear and the process ofgrowth are go verned by propagation o f fault planes.

The influence of stress and strain on kinetics of bainite transformation

The influence of stress and strain on the kinetics and transformation plasticity of bainite transformation has been studied using a 26Cr2Ni4MoV steel by thermal simulation experimental method. It has been found that as applied stress increases the maximum volume fraction of bainite increases for applied stress lower than the yield stress but decreases for applied stress higher than the yield stress. This is believed to be related with the strengthening of parent phase due to pre-deformation. Experimental results indicate that applied stress accelerates bainite transformation. When applied stress is lower than the yield stress, the parameter of transformation plasticity increases with applied stress while it becomes a constant for stress larger than yield stress.

Effect of Austenitizing Treatment on Structure and Hardness of Bainite DuctileCast Iron

In1949,Braidwoodpredictedthatthecastironwithneedlestructure(bainiteductilecastiron)mightbethebestoneinmechanicproperties[1].Becauseofthedif-ficultyinproductioncontrol,thiskindofcastironwasnotwidelyappliedinindustry[21.Asthepredigestingofproductionpro...

Bainite Transformation Under Continuous Cooling of Nb-Microalloyed Low Carbon Steel

Utilizing Gleeble-1500 thermomechanical si mulator, the influences of hot deformation parameters oncontinuous cooling bainite transformationin Nb-microalloyed lowcarbon steel were investigated . The results indi-cate that bainite starting temperature decreases with raising cooling rate and increases withincreasing deformationtemperature . Deformation has an accelerative effect onthe bainite transformation whenthe speci mens are deformedat 950 ℃. When the deformation temperature increases ,the effect of deformation on bainite starting temperatureis weakened . The amount of bainite is influenced by strain,cooling rate ,and deformation temperature . When thespeci mens are deformed below 900 ℃, equiaxed ferrites are promoted and the bainite transformation is sup-pressed .

Effect of austempering time on microstructure and properties of a low-carbon bainite steel

The effect of austempering time after the bainitic transformation on the microstructure and property in a low-carbon bainite steel was investigated by metallography and dilatometry. The results showed that by prolonging the austempering time after the bainite transformation, the amount of large-size martensite/austenite islands decreased, but no significant change of the amount and morphology of bainite were observed. In addition, more austenite with a high carbon content was retained by prolonging the holding time at the bainite transformation temperature.Moreover, with a longer holding time, the elongation was improved at the expense of a small decrease in tensile strength. Finally, the Avrami equation B(RF) = 1-exp(-0.0499 × t^0.7616) for bainite reaction at 350℃ was obtained for the tested steel. The work provided a reference for tailoring the properties of low-carbon steels.

Effect of Morphology for Novel Bainite/Martensite Dual-Phase High Strength Steel on Its Hydrogen Embrittlement Susceptibility

The susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement ofbainite/martensite dual-phase high strength steel with different morphologies obtained by the conventional and thermo-mechanical heat treatments has been investigated by means of electrolytic hydrogen charging. The results showed that the finer the microstructure, the lower the sensitivity of steel to hydrogen embrittlement. The fractographic analysis suggested that the fracture mode of the hydrogen-charged specimens is of a mixture of quasicleavage and dimple for both treating processes. The quasicleavage facet of the thermomechanical treated specimen is smaller than that of the conventional heated one, which is probably the reason for reducing the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement. Fracture metallographic observations showed that the crack propagates preferentially along bainite/martensite laths boundary, and suggested that the fracture mode is of predominantly lath boundary separation.

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 superbainitic 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 demonstrated diversity. The bainite plates initiating at grain 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 decreased 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 viewpoint of growth rate.

Effects of Deformation on Bainite Transformation During Continuous Cooling of Low Carbon Steels

Hot deformation experiments were carried out on Gleeble 1500 thermo-mechanical simulator. The bainite transformation after deformation was investigated by optical microstructure analysis. The results indicated that the deformation accelerated the bainite transformation when the deformation was carried out at high temperature and no or little ferrite was precipitated before bainite transformation; when the deformation was carried out at low temperature, the deformation hindered the bainite transformation because a lot of ferrite precipitated before bainite transformation.

Kinetics of bainite-to-austenite transformation during continuous reheating in low carbon microalloyed steel

A dilatometer was used to study the kinetics of bainite-to-austenite transformation in low carbon microalloyed steel with the initial microstructure of bainite during the continuous reheating process. The bainite-to-austenite transformation was observed to take place in two steps at low heating rate. The first step is the dissolution of bainite, and the second one is the remaining bainite-to-austenite transformation controlled by a dissolution process. The calculation result of the kinetics of austenite formation shows that the two steps occur by diffusion at low heating rate. However, at high heating rate the bainite-to-austenite transformation occurs in a single step, and the process is mainly dominated by shear. The growth rate of austenite reaches the maximum at about 835 C at different heating rates and the growth rate of austenite as a function of temperature increases with the increase in heating rate.

STM Study on the Surface Relief and Mechanism of Bainite Transformation

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM ) has been first employed to study the surface relief accompanying bainite transformation in a Fe-2.17C-12.18Cr-0.31Si-0.26Mn (wt pct) steel. With the exclusive vertical resolution of STM, we observed that the surface relief associated with bainite is a group of surface reliefs related to subplates, subunits and sub-subunits. As a whole, the relief group is in a tent shape, not of invariant plane strain (IPS) type, which is obviously different from that of martensite, and implying that bainite is not formed by shear mechanism. The fine structure of bainite in Fe-1.0C-4Cr-2.0Si (wt pct) alloy has also been studied with STM and TEM. It is found that the bainite plate is composed of subplates, subunits and sub-subunits. On the basis of the fine structure inside a bainitic ferrite plate observed under STM, a sympathetic-ledgewise mechanism of bainite formation is

Nucleation Mechanism for Bainite

Based on the experimental results that solute-depleted zone was observed in Cu-28Zn-4AI (mass fraction) at 523 K, AG is calculated as a positive according to the thermodynamic criteria for the spinodal decomposition of a ternary systems. So, the solute-depleted zone cannot be formed by spinodal decomposition. Dislocation density required by the formation of solute-depleted zone is estimated greater than 7.89×109 cm-2, according to the segregation of solute atoms around dislocations, which is not consistent with the practical situation for the alloy at 523 K. Associated with the internal friction experimental fact that internal friction peaks appear within the incubation for bainitic transformation in Cu-Zn-AI alloy, the equilibrium temperature, TO, is evaluated as 433 K for solute-depleted Cu-25Zn-3.4AI, which is lower than the experimental temperature 523 K. Thus, nucleation by shear mechanism is impossible in this circumstance. Therefore, it is concluded that, like bainite in steels and Ag-Cd, bainite