Evaluation of the mechanical properties after thermal treatment of a structural hot rolled multiphase steel

Abstract

The present paper corresponds to the experimental study conducted on a hot rolled (HR) multiphase (MP) steel, in which hardness, tensile and toughness properties were measured after the application of a series of subcritical and intercritical heat treatments (HT) to the hot rolled stock. The aforementioned values were compared to the corresponding ones in the as-rolled state and after normalizing. The microstructure in the longitudinal plane of the strip was analyzed by light optical microscopy in the as-rolled state and in the HT samples. Longitudinal (L) and transverse (T) tensile and toughness specimens were cut to characterize every condition studied. Toughness properties were evaluated by means of Charpy V-notch tests conducted at 20 °C, 0 °C, –20 °C, –40 °C, –60 °C and –80 °C . It was observed that the yield stress increased with the increase in the heat treatment temperature in the subcritical range, while the tensile strength decreased slightly over the same range of temperatures. Uniform and total elongation only showed a slight improvement when the treatment was conducted at 620 °C and 700 °C, while the best toughness response corresponded to the sample treated at 500 °C for operating temperatures comprised between –40 °C and room temperature (RT).