H. L. Yi

Non-equilibrium solidification and ferrite in δ-TRIP steel

Abstract Microscopy and microanalysis experiments on two cast alloys, designed on the basis of equilibrium to contain substantial amounts of δ-ferrite, reveal zero or much reduced fractions of this phase in the solidified condition. It appears that the solid state transformation of δ-ferrite into austenite occurs without the required partitioning of solutes and that this is responsible for the development of non-equilibrium microstructures. This conclusion is supported by microanalytical data and through calculations of limiting phase diagrams based on paraequilibrium rather than equilibrium. Kinetic simulations confirm that this interpretation is consistent with the majority of austenite growing in the solid state without the partitioning of the substitutional solutes.

Stabilisation of ferrite in hot rolled δ-TRIP steel

Abstract A steel has recently been designed to benefit from the deformation induced transformation of retained austenite present in association with bainitic ferrite. It has as its major microstructural component, dendrites of δ-ferrite introduced during solidification. The δ-ferrite replaces the allotriomorphic ferrite present in conventional alloys of this kind. The authors examine here the stability of this δ-ferrite during heating into a temperature range typical of hot rolling conditions. It is found that contrary to expectations from calculated phase diagrams, the steel becomes fully austenitic under these conditions and that a better balance of ferrite promoting solutes is necessary in order to stabilise the dendritic structure. New alloys are designed for this purpose and are found suitable for hot rolling in the two-phase field over the temperature range 900–1200°C.

Spot weldability of δ-TRIP steel containing 0·4 wt-%C

Abstract Strong steels are usually difficult to resistance spot weld because of the tendency to form hard phases. This applies particularly to the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) assisted steels with relatively high carbon equivalents. A new development in this context is the δ-TRIP steel, designed to retain δ-ferrite as a stable phase at all temperatures below melting. Fully martensitic regions are therefore avoided, making it possible to weld in spite of the high carbon concentration. The authors present here the first spot welding tests on the novel alloy system.

Optimizing the Morphology and Stability of Retained Austenite in a δ-TRIP Steel

Abstractδ-TRIP is a low-alloy steel in which ferrite persists at all temperatures in the solid-state, with the remaining microstructure consisting of carbide-free bainite and carbon-enriched retained austenite. The present work explores for the first time, how changes in the intercritical annealing temperature and the transformation conditions associated with bainite influence the morphology and stability of the austenite, and hence the behavior of the microstructure during tensile deformation. It is found that the structure can be optimized to consist of a combination of blocky and film austenite that undergo transformation over a range of plastic strains, thus minimizing the possibility of plastic instabilities, and hence imparting considerable strength and uniform elongation.

Low density steel 1·2C–1·5Cr–5Al designed for bearings

Abstract A novel alloy design, designated as 1·2C–1·5Cr–5Al, has been proposed with high aluminium(∼5 wt-%) and more carbon(∼1·2 wt-%) addition into the classical 1C–1·5Cr bearing steel for lowering density and improving performance simultaneously, which is approximate 8 wt-% lighter than convention. In order to understand preliminarily the suitability of the novel alloy for bearing application, the martensite starting temperature and hardness, related to microstructure evolution and mechanical properties, respectively, after partial austenitisation treatment with undissolved carbides have been investigated carefully. The martensite starting temperature is comparable with conventional 1C–1·5Cr alloy. The hardness of 860±3 HV20 achieved is much higher than convention.

Martensitic transformation cracking in high carbon steels for bearings

Cracking generates usually due to the internal stress during martensitic transformation in high carbon steels, for instance the ‘1C–1.5Cr’ bearing steels. A novel low-density ‘1.2C–1.5Cr–5Al’ alloy has been designed recently for bearing application in previous research. The effect of morphology of martensite plates on the transformation cracking has been proposed and investigated in comparison between the ‘1.2C–1.5Cr–5Al’ and ‘1C–1.5Cr’ steels in this research. Based on the mechanisms proposed, the tendency for transformation cracking in the novel alloy with more carbon addition has been discussed compared with the ‘1C–1.5Cr’ steel. This paper is part of a Themed Issue on Recent developments in bearing steels.

Challenges in the formability of the next generation of automotive steel sheets

ABSTRACT Improving strength may lightweight car bodies by thinning the structure gauge while bearing the same crash loads. Development of the third generation advanced high-strength steels aiming to boost material ductility to over 30% total elongation has become the common sense of potential solutions for stamping. Not only total elongation but also several other parameters, involving presswork hardening, anisotropy ratio, strain rate sensitivity, uniform elongation, edge sensitivity and internal stress between phases, are critical in determining the formability under the complex stress and strain distributions during stamping. We clarify here the logic of formability and difficulties in this context of three types of steel: quenching and partitioning, δ-transformation-induced plasticity and medium Mn-TRIP.

Properties assessment of the first industrial coils of low-density duplex δ-TRIP steel

A novel low-density steel with high aluminium content was, for the first time, manufactured as coils by the conventional industry process consisting of continuous casting followed by hot-rolling and cold-rolling. The duplex δ-TRIP microstructure, comprising a mixture of blocky retained austenite and both δ- and α-ferrite, was then produced by laboratory-scale heat treatments. The microstructure generation was achieved by an intercritical annealing followed by direct quenching, which was the same process as that for producing conventional dual-phase steels. The alloy exhibits quite interesting mechanical properties with a combination of 930 MPa tensile strength and of 21% total elongation, both in rolling and transverse directions. The formability of this novel alloy was assessed and discussed.

A medium manganese steel designed for water quenching and partitioning

ABSTRACT An aluminium-containing medium manganese steel has been designed to undergo intercritical annealing followed by quenching in water and subsequent partitioning. Water quenching, replacing the quenching temperature (QT) between 150 and 300°C in conventional quenching and partitioning steels, is therefore adopted in QP alloys, in order to guarantee the precise QT in practice. The low intercritical annealing temperature of 750°C refines both ferrite and prior austenite grains into submicron size. The large fraction of ultra-fine ferrite, as well as the transformation-induced plasticity effect of retained austenite, improves the overall ductility of this water-quenched and partitioned steel. The alloy has achieved excellent mechanical properties of 1130 MPa ultimate tensile strength combined with 19.2% total elongation.

Abnormal expansion due to pearlite-to-austenite transformation in high aluminium-added steels

Addition of alloying elements usually moves eutectoid point to left whilst aluminium enhances eutectoid carbon content. The carbon expands lattice parameters of austenite. High aluminium addition in steels led to volume expansion at pearlite-to-austenite transformation since specific volume of austenite is larger than that of mother phases, which is proposed to determine the volume expansion or contraction. It has been proven by calculations based on thermodynamics as well as accurate experimental observations of dilatometry study.