Design of a novel austenitising bending process in forming characteristics of high-strength quenched and micro-alloyed steel: Experiment and simulation

Abstract

A systematic study was carried out on a novel designed austenitising bending process to explore the effects of quenching temperatures on the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength micro-alloyed steel. Results reveal that the qualified parts could be bent into a satisfactory shape without spring-back and cracks in bending temperatures of 850–1000 °C. The simulation was applied to predict the equivalent stress, stress neutral layer (SNL) and plate thickness. Strength presents a decreasing trend with the increase of bending temperature owing to integrated influences of high-temperature dynamic recovery (DRV) and dynamic recrystallisation (DRX). Beyond that, SNL nearby the geometrical centre line throughout the plate thickness and dislocation pile-ups on the tension/compression zones are responsible for the smaller hardness on middle regions while higher hardness on the surface areas. Through austenite reconstruction, a smaller martensite packet size would directly improve the strength of the plates bent at a lower temperature. The prior austenite size may be related to the appearance of martensite variants but not necessary. Furthermore, the high accuracy by comparing the experimental results with simulation would provide a high-value reference for the practical manufacturing process of railway spring clips.