Effects of electroplastic rolling on mechanical properties and microstructure of low-carbon martensitic steel

Abstract

In this study, low-carbon martensite steel was obtained by rapid quenching and was then subjected to cold rolling and electroplastic rolling with different deformation amounts. The mechanical properties and microstructures of the steel after rolling deformation were compared and analyzed. The results showed that with the increase in the deformation amount, the material strength and hardness of the steel subjected to cold rolling and electroplastic rolling increased, while the elongation decreased. Under the same rolling thickness-reduction amount, the strength (hardness) of the electroplastic-rolled material was slightly lower than that of the cold-rolled specimen, and the elongation was significantly improved. Owing to the various angles between the lath direction and rolling direction, the deformed laths featured different characteristics. Regarding the lath morphology, there were no significant differences between the electroplastic rolling deformation and cold rolling deformation. During the plastic deformation process, the texture exhibited significant rotation; the texture transformed to a relatively more stable {112}<110>, and the steel showed strong ɑ texture and weak γ texture. The {111} <110> texture was the strongest in the γ direction; it is stronger than the {111} <112> texture. The {111} plane of the electroplastic-rolled specimen was significantly higher than that of the cold-rolled specimen. The positive relationship between texture and plasticity was obtained.