L. Pentti Karjalainen

Crystallographic Analysis of Martensite in 0.2C-2.0Mn-1.5Si-0.6Cr Steel using EBSD

The crystallography of martensite formed in 0.2C-2.0Mn-1.5Si-0.6Cr steel was studied using the electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. The results showed that the observed orientation relationship (OR) was closer to that of Nishiyama-Wassermann (N-W) than Kurdjumov-Sachs. The martensite consisted of parallel laths forming morphological packets. Typically, there were three different lath orientations in a morphological packet consisting of three specific N-W OR variants sharing the same {111} austenite plane. A packet of martensite laths with a common {111} austenite plane was termed a crystallographic packet. Generally, the crystallographic packet size corresponded to the morphological packet size, but occasionally the morphological packet was found to consist of two or more crystallographic packets. Therefore, the crystallographic packet size appeared to be finer than the morphological packet size. The relative orientation between the variants in crystallographic packets was found to be near 60°/ , which explains the strong peak observed near 60° in the grain boundary misorientation distribution. Martensite also contained a high fraction of boundaries with a misorientation in the range 2.5-8°. Typically these boundaries were found to be located inside the martensite laths forming sub-laths.

Deformation Mechanisms in High-Al Bearing High-Mn TWIP Steels in Hot Compression and in Tension at Low Temperatures

The hot deformation behaviour of two high-Mn (23-24 wt-%) TWIP steels containing 6 and 8 wt-% Al with the fully austenitic and duplex microstructures, respectively, has been investigated at temperatures of 900-1100°C. In addition, tensile properties were determined over the temperature range from -80 to 100°C. It was observed that in spite of the lower Al content, the austenitic steel possessed the hot deformation resistance about twice as high as that of the duplex steel. Whereas the flow stress curves of the austenitic steel exhibited work hardening followed by slight softening due to dynamic recrystallisation, the duplex steel showed the absence of work hardening and discontinuous yielding under similar conditions. Tensile tests at low temperatures revealed that the austenitic grade had a lower yield strength than that of the duplex grade, but much better ductility, the elongation increasing with decreasing temperature, contrary to that for the duplex steel. This can be attributed to the intense mechanical twinning in the austenitic steel, while in the duplex steel, twinning occurred in the ferrite only and the austenite showed dislocation glide.

Hall-Petch Relationship of a TWIP Steel

The grain size dependence of the tensile properties of a TWIP steel has been determined for a wide range of grain sizes obtained by grain growth after complete recrystallization of cold rolled material. The near-linear stress-strain behaviour typical of either TWIP steels or other materials that deform by twinning has been observed, the work hardening rate being larger for the smaller grain sizes. The Hall-Petch slope increases as a function of strain, from 350 MPa μm1/2 for the yield stress to 630 MPa μm1/2 for the maximum uniform strain in the tensile tests, ε  0.40. Profuse twinning is observed in deformed specimens by means of FIB-ISE.

Effect of Austenite Pancaking on the Microstructure, Texture, and Bendability of an Ultrahigh-Strength Strip Steel

The effect of austenite pancaking in the non-recrystallization regime on microstructure and texture evolution and thereby on bendability was investigated in an ultrahigh-strength strip steel with a martensitic-bainitic microstructure. The results indicate that an increase in rolling reduction (Rtot) below the non-recrystallization temperature, which improves the strength and toughness properties, increases the intensities of the ~{554}〈225〉α and ~{112}〈110〉α texture components along the strip centerline and of the ~{112}〈111〉α component at the surface region. Even with the highest Rtot of 79 pct, the bendability along the rolling direction was good, but the preferred alignment of rod-shaped MA constituents along the rolling direction led to a dramatic decrease in the bendability transverse to the rolling direction, with severe cracking occurring even at small bending angles. The early cracking is attributed to localization of the strain in narrow shear bands. It is concluded that the Rtot value has to be limited to guarantee successful bendability.

Processing of Submicron Grained Microstructures and Enhanced Mechanical Properties by Cold-Rolling and Reversion Annealing of Metastable Austenitic Stainless Steels

The effects of chemical composition, cold rolling and subsequent annealing parameters on the reversion of strain-induced martensite to austenite were investigated in three experimental Mn and Si-free Cr-Ni austenitic stainless steels and two commercial Type 301 and Type 301LN grades by optical and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements. Hardness and tensile tests were performed to determine the mechanical properties achieved. In cold rolling, completely martensitic structure could be obtained in the experimental heats, but only partially in 301 and 301LN grades at reasonable reductions. Upon annealing, in 301LN the reversion took place by the nucleation and growth mechanism, and submicron austenite grains were formed within a few seconds at temperatures above 700°C. In the other steels, reversion took place by the shear mechanism, and ultra-fine grains were formed by the recrystallization of austenite at temperatures of 900°C or above. Partial reversion resulted in an excellent combination of yield strength and elongation in 301LN, and also in 301 such ones were attained in the reverted structure even before any profound formation of submicron grains.

Kinetics of Recrystallization and Grain Growth of Cold Rolled TWIP Steel

Hot rolled, laboratory-cast, TWIP steel samples (5.4 mm thick) of 22% Mn - 0.6% C (in mass-%) were cold rolled to different reductions (from 40 % to 70 %) and subsequently isothermally annealed for various times at temperatures ranging from 450º C to 1100º C. The evolution of recrystallization and grain growth was followed by control of the softening kinetics complemented by metallographic, OIM and microtexture observations. A map of the recovery, recrystallization and grain growth in the temperature-time space was obtained. In all instances, the grain size at the end of recrystallization was very fine, D ≤ 2 µm and larger grain sizes were the result of grain growth. A range of grain sizes 2 µm ≤ D ≤ 50 µm was covered by the grain growth experiments. A phenomenological grain growth equation that is useful for the annealing control of this steel was derived from the measurements.

Recrystallization Kinetics of Microalloyed Steels Determined by Two Mechanical Testing Techniques

Data on the static and post-dynamic recrystallization have been determined in five Ti-microalloyed steels. Both the stress relaxation and interrupted deformation techniques have been employed. The effect of a strain rate change on the flow stress and the subsequent softening kinetics was also investigated. A reasonable agreement is obtained between the results of both the stress relaxation and double-compression methods, which further confirms the reliability of the stress relaxation technique. The results indicate that steels with plain Ti or with Ti-Ni-V or Ti-Ni-Cu alloying recrystallize at temperatures above 900°C (pass reduction ≥0.15) for interpass times characteristic of plate rolling, but Nb (ca. 0.03%) retards the recrystallization rate so that the final rolling temperature should be about 1000°C for full recrystallization between passes. The characteristics of static and metadynamic recrystallization are distinctly different. Softening becomes independent of strain and highly dependent on the strain rate even at strains leading to a small fraction of dynamic recrystallization. Nb has only a small retarding effect in metadynamic recrystallization. The flow stress level and softening kinetics are independent of the strain rate history only being dependent on the final strain rate.

Precipitation of Si and its Influence on Mechanical Properties of Type 441 Stainless Steel

In this study the precipitation of silicon in Type 441 steel (18%Cr-0.4%Nb-0.5%Si) was investigated and its influence on strength properties were determined. To simulate high-temperature service conditions, heat treatments with various ageing times up to 120 hours and temperatures up to 800 °C were performed. Following the aging treatments, micro-and macro-hardness and tensile properties were measured. Microstructure and precipitation were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Predictions for equilibrium pericipitation were calculated using the Factsage software. According to observations, coarse titanium nitrides (TiN) and niobium carbides (NbC, Fe3Nb3C) were present in all specimens including non-aged ones. These precipitates did not coarsen during ageing, which implies that their growth already occurred in the sheet production process. However, silicon started to precipitate in the course of prolonged annealing. Si contributed to the formation of a secondary phase resembling the Laves-phase (FeNbSi) on grain boundaries. Hardness and yield strength were found to decrease with prolonged ageing at high temperatures. Factors affecting the silicon precipitation are discussed.

Validation of the New Regression Model for the Static Recrystallisation of Hot-Deformed Austenite in Special Steels

A linear regression model consisting of the weighted sums of certain alloying elements has recently been developed to predict the activation energy (Qrex) and kinetics of static recrystallisation (SRX) for hot-deformed austenite based on stress relaxation test results for over 40 different carbon steels. The validity of the model has been further assessed here by determining the Qrex and the kinetics of SRX of certain high-Nb bearing steels, extra-low and low carbon Nb-Mo bainitic and high-Si dual phase and TRIP steels, and Nb-Ti grades with the varying N content. The validity of the model is shown to be fairly good for the Nb-Ti, Nb-Mo and Cr-Mo grades. The approach of maximum effective concentration of Nb and Si and the weight factor for Cr enable reasonable fit for DP, TRIP and Nb-Cr steels, as well. Possible influences of C and N on Qrex and the kinetics of SRX were checked, but none was observed in microalloyed steels.

Designing a Novel DQ&P Process through Physical Simulation Studies

This study presents the use of physical and laboratory rolling simulations for the development of a novel direct quenching and partitioning (DQ&P) process for the development of tough ductile ultra-high strength structural steels with yield strengths ~1100 MPa and reasonable ductility and toughness. Suitable compositions were designed based on high silicon and/or aluminium content. The DQ&P parameters were established with the aid of physical simulation on a Gleeble simulator. Two types of dilatation tests were carried out: with or without prior straining in the no-recrystallization regime to establish the influence of controlled deformation on subsequent transformation structures and properties. Based on dilatation results, simulated rolling trials were conducted on a laboratory rolling mill and the rolled samples were direct quenched in water to the desired quench stop temperatures followed by partitioning in a furnace held at this temperature. Detailed microstructural examination confirmed that the desired martensite-austenite microstructures were achieved. Besides high strengths, the ductility (including uniform elongation) and impact toughness were quite improved in comparison to that of a direct quenched carbon steel in the same strength class.