Effect of Continuous Annealing Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a High Strength Cold-Rolled DP980 Steel

Abstract

Continuous annealing processes were applied to a 980MPa cold-rolled dual phase steel (Fe-0.11C-2.5Mn-0.5Si-0.4Cr) and the effect of continuous annealing temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated. The microstructures were observed and analyzed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mechanical properties were measured by uniaxial tensile tests. The results revealed that the steel is composed of a certain percentage of ferrite, martensite and perhaps a small amount of retained austenite as well. As the annealing temperature increased, the volume fraction of martensite reached to 67% from 48% and the morphology translated to lath-like from M/A island. As a consequence, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength had a moderate increase from 1070 to 1110 MPa and 580 to 640 MPa, respectively. Meanwhile, the fracture elongation rose to the maximum 12.6% firstly and then decreased to about 9.0%. The optimizing mechanical properties with UTS up to 1090 MPa, yield ratio about 0.54 and fracture elongation about 13% could be obtained at the annealing temperature of 790°C for 120s.