Microalloyed steel

About: Microalloyed steel is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2183 publications have been published within this topic receiving 33586 citations.

Determining role of microstructure on crack arrest and propagation phenomenon in low-carbon microalloyed steel

Abstract: The relationship between microstructure and crack arrest characteristics of a microalloyed steel with a yield strength of 460 MPa was elucidated in this study with particular focus on the effect of the microstructure on the propagation of brittle cracks. The study emphasized that the acicular ferrite (AF) content could be increased to 41% by lowering the final rolling temperature and final cooling temperature, which reduces the average effective grain size (EGS) to as small as ~4.1 μm and increases the high-angle grain boundaries (HAGB) proportion to as high as ~48.8%. The presence of AF in large numbers could reduce the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature to approximately −87 °C through refinement of the microstructure. The presence of HAGB between adjacent grains could significantly arrest cracks by changing the propagation direction of brittle cracks and was a decisive factor in determining the characteristics of brittle fracture. Moreover, the fracture roughness varied directly with the proportion of the HAGB and inversely with the average EGS. Martensite/austenite islands with low content (0.92%) and small size (~1.5 μm) reduced the stress concentration significantly at the crack tip. The excellent crack arrestability was attributed to AF, which minimized the expansion of cleavage facets by the split nail effect ahead of the growth direction, so that the cleavage facets were divided into two or more branches, considerably reducing the stress concentration and retarding brittle crack growth during crack propagation at low ambient temperature.

Static recrystallization mechanisms in a coarse-grained Nb-microalloyed austenite

Abstract: Static recrystallization mechanisms have been studied in a coarse-grained Nb microalloyed austenite. An austenite with a coarse grain size of 800 µm, typical of thin slab casting processes, has been deformed in torsion at a temperature of 1100 °C. After deformation, the specimens have been held for different times at this high temperature and then water quenched. The microstructural changes occurring during static recrystallization were characterized by metallographic evaluation. It has been observed that new recrystallized grains nucleate preferentially on parent austenite grain boundaries and tend to form in clusters. Once all the boundaries have been consumed, intragranular nucleation is actived at late stages of recrystallization. Clustered nucleation allows impingement to take place early during the recrystallization process, favoring grain-coarsening phenomena to occur behind the recrystallization front, which is denoted by the significant reduction in the number of grains per unit volume observed during early stages of recrystallization. Static recrystallization proceeds heterogeneously, as a result of a nonuniform distribution of stored energy in the deformed material. A continuous decrease of the average migration rate of the recrystallization front is observed, which can be ascribed to the reduction of the driving force for migration as recrystallization advances.