An overview of strain ageing in low carbon steels

Strain ageing in steel was first observed during the 19th century when the maximum load carrying capacity of a test piece was increased after it had been retested following a previous series of testing in a plastic range. Over the last decades, a great deal of research has been performed to gain deeper insights into the phenomenon of strain ageing. The synergistic development of theoretical hypothesis and new experimental evidences has promoted the understanding of the mechanisms underlying strain ageing. The content of this paper is organized into four components. First, we have compared the main theories developed in recent years. Second, we have summarized the metallurgical effects on the strain ageing behavior observed in experiments. Moreover, we have made an attempt to correlate the experimental results and the above-mentioned theories. Third, we have proposed a feasible solution to control strain ageing in low carbon steels. Finally, we have elaborated the potentiality of the atom probe technique in facilitating direct characterization of the distribution of solute atoms.

Effects of strain ageing on the microstructures of microalloyed steels

This study investigates the microstructures of microalloyed steels before and after strain ageing treatment. It was found that the microstructure consisted of both lath ferrite and pearlite. Most of the carbides and/or nitrides of microalloying elements were distributed inside the grains with a small amount distributed at the grain boundaries. The precipitated phases inside the grains were much smaller in size than those at the grain boundaries. The precipitates are either circular or short bar-like,of sizes from a few nanometers to several hundred nanometers. After ageing,only carbon atoms segregate around the dislocations and nitrogen does not participate in producing the Cottrell atmosphere because it was fixed by alloying elements before ageing.

Effect of Lüders Bands by Strain Ageing on Strain Distribution,Microstructure and Texture Evolution of High-Strength Pipe Steel

In this study,the high-strength pipe steel,i.e.X80,was heated at 260℃for half an hour followed by air cooling for thermal simulation of pipe coating process.During the uniaxial loading of the specified tension samples,the migration behaviour of Lüders bands and the re-distribution of stress after strain ageing heat treatment were investigated using digital image correlation.Digital image correlation was adopted to characterise the local axial and shear strain fields of samples that were extracted from different locations across the wall thickness of the high-strength pipe steel,and electron backscatter diffraction was used to compare the evolution of crystallographic texture among these locations.Other characterisation methods regarding microstructure and mechanical properties were conducted meanwhile,including optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to accurately define the detailed performances that strain ageing,i.e.being heated to 260℃for half an hour,has led to.The obtained results show that the Lüders band-related microstructure,dislocation density,lattice constant and texture vary at the different locations across the wall thickness and influence the fi nal mechanical properties of the selected high-strength pipe steel.

Effect of Dynamic Strain Aging on Hardness in the Heat-Affected Zone of SUS316 Steel Welds

DSA(dynamic strain aging)phenomenon in SUS316 steel was investigated using isothermal and non-isothermal tensile tests of simulated HAZ(heat-affected zone)thermal cycles.Isothermal tensile tests were performed on SUS316 in the peak temperature range of 20-700°C,with strain rates varying from 4.2×10^(-3)to 4.2×10^(-5)s^(-1).Based on the appearance of discontinuous plastic flows,expressed as serrations,and the hardening phenomenon of the tensile samples,the conditions for the occurrence of DSA in the SUS316 steel were investigated.Furthermore,the extent of hardening due to DSA was evaluated by comparing the hardness values of the SUS316 and SUS316EHP steels after the tensile tests.To confirm the effect of DSA on hardness in the HAZ of the welded SUS316 steel,non-isothermal tensile tests of the simulated HAZ thermal cycles were performed using a Thermec Master.The relationship between the increase in Vickers hardness due to DSA and the strain in the HAZ was determined;the effect of DSA on hardness in the HAZ could be predicted.The DSA in SUS316 steel was found to be mainly attributed to the dynamic interaction of dislocations with C and N interstitial atoms during high-temperature deformation.

Deformation behaviour in advanced heat resistant materials during slow strain rate testing at elevated temperature

In this study, slow strain rate tensile testing at elevated temperature is used to evaluate the influence of temperature and strain rate on deformation behaviour in two different austenitic alloys. One austenitic stainless steel （AISI 316L） and one nickel-base alloy （Alloy 617） have been investigated. Scanning electron microscopy related techniques as electron channelling contrast imaging and electron backscattering diffraction have been used to study the damage and fracture micromechanisms. For both alloys the dominante damage micromech- anisms are slip bands and planar slip interacting with grain bounderies or precipitates causing strain concentrations. The dominante fracture micromechanism when using a slow strain rate at elevated temperature, is microcracks at grain bounderies due to grain boundery embrittlement caused by precipitates. The decrease in strain rate seems to have a small influence on dynamic strain ageing at 650℃.

Improving Tribological Performance of Gray Cast Iron by Laser Peening in Dynamic Strain Aging Temperature Regime

A high and stable brake disc friction coefficient is needed for automobile safety, while the coefficient degrades due to elevated temperature during the braking process. There is no better solution except changes in material composition and shape design optimization. In the dynamic strain aging（DSA） temperature regime of gray cast iron, micro-dimples with different dimple depth over diameter and surface area density are fabricated on the material surface by laser peening（LP） which is an LST method. Friction behavior and wear mechanism are investigated to evaluate the effects of surface texturing on the tribological performance of specimens under dry conditions. Through LP impacts assisted by DSA, the friction coefficients of the LPed specimens increase noticeably both at room temperature and elevated temperature in comparison to untreated specimens. Moreover, the coefficient of specimen with dimple depth over diameter of 0.03 and surface area density of 30% is up to 0.351 at room temperature, which dramatically rises up to 1.33 times that of untextured specimen and the value is still up to 0.3305 at 400℃ with an increasing ratio of 35% compared to that of untreated specimen. The surface of textured specimen shows better wear resistance compared to untreated specimen. Wear mechanism includes adhesive wear, abrasive wear and oxidation wear. It is demonstrated that LP assisted by DSA can substantially improve wear resistance, raise the friction coefficient as well as its stability of gray cast iron under elevated temperatures. Heat fade and premature wear can be effectively relieved by this surface modification method.

EFFECT OF DYNAMIC STRAIN AGING ON LOW CYCLE FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF 18-8 AUSTENITIC STAINLESS STEEL

Studies were made of the symmetric tensile-compressive low cycle fatigue behaviour and the influence of dynamic strain aging(DSA)pre-treatment of 18-8 austenitic stainless steel. Within the testing amplitude range of strain.±0.5 % to±1.5 %,the three processes of cyclic hardening,cyclic saturation and cyclic softening were observed.In the same amplitude of strain,the peak stress of the samples pre-treated by DSA is higher than that of solid-solu- tion and cold working pre-treatment,but no remarkable differences of the fatigue lives of them were found.TEM observation shows that the uniform and stable dislocation networks with high density form after DSA pre-treatment,which increases the cyclic peak stress.The cyclic softening results from the low dislocation density and elongated cell structure with low energy.

Stress-state dependence of dynamic strain aging:Thermal hardening and blue brittleness

This study aims to discover the stress-state dependence of the dynamic strain aging(DSA)effect on the deformation and fracture behavior of high-strength dual-phase(DP)steel at different deformation temperatures(25-400°C)and reveal the damage mechanisms under these various configurations.To achieve different stress states,predesigned specimens with different geometric features were used.Scanning electron microscopy was applied to analyze the fracture modes(e.g.,dimple or shear mode)and underlying damage mechanism of the investigated material.DSA is present in this DP steel,showing the Portevin-Le Chatelier(PLC)effect with serrated flow behavior,thermal hardening,and blue brittleness phenomena.Results show that the stress state contributes distinctly to the DSA effect in terms of the magnitude of thermal hardening and the pattern of blue brittleness.Either low stress triaxiality or Lode angle parameter promotes DSA-induced blue brittleness.Accordingly,the damage mechanisms also show dependence on the stress states in conjunction with the DSA effect.

A DISLOCATION-MECHANICS-BASED CONSTITUTIVE MODEL FOR DYNAMIC STRAIN AGING

Dynamic strain aging (DSA) is an important phenomenon in solutehardened metals and seri- ously affects the mechanical properties ofmetals. DSA is generally induced by the interaction between themoving dislocations and the mobile solute atoms. In this paper, onlythe interaction between moving disloca- tions and mobile solute atomsin a dislocation core area (core atmosphere) will be taken intoaccount. To es- tablish the constitutive model which can describe theDSA phenomenon, we improved the Zerilli-Armstrongdislocation-mechanics-based thermal viscoplastic constitutiverelation, and added the effect of the interaction between the movingdislocations and core atmosphere.

DYNAMIC STRAIN AGING BEHAVIOR OF K40S ALLOY

The dynamic strain aging behavior during tensile tests of K40S alloy has been investigated in the temperature range of 25-1100℃ with the strain rate range from 10-4 to 10-3s-1. The results show that four different types of serration, identified as A, B, C and E type serration were observed in the temperature range of 300-600℃. The strain exponents for onset of the serrated flow were calculated as 1.21, 2.19 and 1.61, and the activation energies as 121, 40 and 67kJ/mol for E, B and C type serration respectively. The main mechanism for dynamic strain aging discussed in light of the strain exponent and the activation energy.

EFFECT OF DYNAMIC STRAIN AGING ON PURE BENDING FATIGUE STRENGTH OF AUSTENITIC STAINLESS STEEL

The effect of various dynamic strain aging(DSA)pre-treatment processes on pure bending fatigue strength of an 18-8 austenitic stainless steel was investigated.The results show that DSA pre-treatment processes increase remarkably the fatigue strength and the strengthening effects increase with increasing pre-strain temperature and pre-strain.The fatigue limit of specimens pre-treated by DSA is 87% higher than that by solution treatment,and 20% high- er than that by cold-working.TEM observations show that the uniform and stable dislocation networks with high density formed after DSA pre-treatment,which suppress effectively the initiation and propugation of fatigue cracks and increase the fatigue strength of materials.

Study on the Deformation Behavior of Mg-3.6%Er Magnesium Alloy

The deformation behaviour of a casting Mg-3.6% Er magnesium alloy after T6 treatment was studied in tensile tests from room temperature to 450 ℃ under different strain rates ranging from 1.0 ×10^-4 to 6.0 × 10^-3 S^-1 Obtained local plateau in the temperature dependence of the ultimate strength （σb） and yield strength （σ0.2） under constant strain rate indicated the presence of dynamic strain ageing （DSA）. Serrated flow was observed at the temperature of 200, 250, and 300 ℃. The observed negative strain rate sensitivity suggested that the serrated flow behavior arose from DSA. The temperature and strain rate dependence of the critical strain for the onset of serrated flow was analyzed using a phenomenological DSA equation, and the apparent activation energy Q for the serrated flow was obtained by calculation.

Influence of solute cloud and precipitates on spatiotemporal characteristics of Portevin-Le Chatelier effect in A2024 aluminum alloys

In this paper, solute concentration and precipitate content in A2024 aluminum alloy are adjusted by solution treatment （ST） at different temperatures and tensile experiments on these treated specimens are carried out. It is found that the temperature of solution treatment （ST temperature） has a remarkable influence on the amplitude of the serrated flow and the propagation characteristics of shear bands. These results are due to the effects of solute atoms and precipitates on dynamic strain aging （DSA）. When ST temperature is higher than 300 ℃, solute concentration is relatively high and solute cloud is a key factor of DSA. When ST temperature is lower than 300 ℃, precipitate content is relatively high and the mechanism of DSA is determined by precipitates.

Deformation measurements of three types of Portevin-Le Chatelier bands

In this paper a technique based on high-speed digital photography and the digital speckle correlation （DSC） method is used for the quantitative measurement of the displacement and strain fields of various Portevin Le Chatelier （PLC） bands （types A, B, and C）. The experimental results clearly show the nucleation process of a type-B band and the propagation of a type-A band. The results also reveal that there exists an elastic shrinkage deformation outside a PLC band during a large avalanche-like deformation inside the PLC band.

Effect of solute concentration on the serrated flow in solution-treated Al-4%Cu alloys

In order to compare with annealed Al-4%Cu alloys, the influence of solute concentration on the serrated flow is investigated by solution treatment. In this paper, some dynamic parameters, such as critical time and the ultimate tensile strength are obtained. Moreover, the change of the strain rate range for serrated flow in Al-4%Cu alloys prepared by annealing and quenching heat treatments is reported too. The difference between them is attributed to the increasing solute concentration in the bulk of the solution treated materials.

Fracture toughness and fracture behavior of SA508-Ⅲ steel at different temperatures

The fracture toughness of SA508-Ⅲ steel was studied in the temperature range from room temperature to 320℃ using the J-integral method. The fracture behavior of the steel was also investigated. It was found that the conditional fracture toughness （JQ） of the steel first decreased and then increased with increasing test temperature. The maximum and minimum values of do were 517.4 kJ/m^2 at 25℃ and 304.5 kJ/m^2 at 180℃, respectively. Dynamic strain aging （DSA） was also observed to occur when the temperature exceeded 260℃ with a certain strain rate. Both the dislocation density and the number of small dislocation cells effectively increased because of the occurrence of DSA; as a consequence, crack propagation was more strongly inhibited in the steel. Simultaneously, an increasing number of fine carbides precipitated under high stress at temperatures greater than 260℃. Thus, the deformation resistance of the steel was improved and the Jo was enhanced.

Influence of precipitation on the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect in Al-Mg alloys

In the alloy with solute content higher than the limiting solubility,the solute atoms that have failed to dissolve will precipitate from the solid solution and form precipitations.In this study, the Portevin-Le Chatelier(PLC) effects in annealed 5456 and 5052 aluminum alloys with different precipitation contents have been investigated under different applied strain rates.The results suggest that precipitations have significant effect on the PLC effect and the more the precipitations are, the greater the influence is.Furthermore,the solute diffusion is pipe diffusion in 5052 alloy with lower precipitation content.However,for 5456 alloy with higher precipitation content,the diffusion is no longer the case but more complex.

A critical review on the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect in aluminum alloys

The plastic deformation showing instability has been a subject receiving considerable attention for centuries due to its importance in many industrial processes.For Al alloys,the major instability is the Portevin-Le Chatelier(PLC)effect that appears within a certain region of strain,strain rate and temperature.It manifests itself on the stress−strain curve as serrations associating with the rapid accumulation of plastic deformation within inclined slip bands.The PLC effect has severe practical consequences,which damages the surface quality after the sheet metal forming process and threatens the tensile ductility.Therefore,it is crucial to investigate the fundamental mechanisms underlying the PLC effect and in particular to investigate how it can be tempered by tailoring the material microstructure.In this paper,we review the common interpretations of the PLC effect and summarize the experimental results of the effects of the precipitation and the grain refinement,two conventional strengthening methodologies in Al alloys,on the serrated plastic flow.The effectiveness of solute atom clusters in suppressing the PLC effect is emphasized.

Complexity analysis of the Portevin-Le Chatelier in an Al alloy atdifferent tem peratures

The complexity of the Portevin-Le Chatelier(PLC)effect in an Al alloy at different temperatures was ana-lyzed by modified multiscale entropy.The results show that three evolutions of entropy with scale factor,i.e.,near zero,monotonically increasing and peak-shape,were observed corresponding to the smoothcurves,type-A serrations and type-B/-C serrations,respectively.The scale factor at the peak was one-third of the average serration period.The sample entropy increased initially and then decreased withtemperature,which was opposite to the critical strain.It is also suggested that the type-A serrations cor-responded to self-organized criticality and the type-B/-C serrations corresponded to chaos through theevolutions of entropy with scale factor.

Aging Behaviors of W-Ni-Fe Ternary Alloys with High Ni-to-Fe Ratios

The hardness variation of two kinds of alloys with 36 wt pct W content and 7/3, 9/1 Ni-to-Fe ratios during strain aging at 800℃ was studied. The microstructures of the aged alloys were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and TEM. The results show that the strain aging hardness of W-Ni-Fe ternary alloy with 7/3 Ni-to-Fe ratio decreases monotonically with the increase of aging time. Under the same conditions, the hardness of 9/1 Ni-to-Fe ratio alloy decreases in the initial aging stage, but then increases as aging process goes on. X ray diffraction and TEM analysis show that there is not any precipitation depositing from the alloy with 7/3 Ni-to-Fe ratio during aging. The monotonic decrease in hardness of this alloy during aging process results from the recovery, recrystallization and solid solubility declining. In the alloy of 9/1 Ni-to-Fe ratio, the fine β phase precipitates dispersively during aging which hardens the alloy. The two different kinds of mechanisms (the softening one and the hardening one) decide the hardness variation of the alloy with 9/1 Ni-to-Fe ratio mentioned above.