Precise Flow Stress Analysis for the Occurrence of Dynamic Ferritic Transformation and Dynamic Recrystallization of Austenite in Low Carbon Steel

Abstract

There have been previous attempts to observe the occurrence of dynamic ferritic transformation at temperatures even above Ae3 in a low-carbon steel, and not only in steels, but recently also in titanium alloys. In this study, a new approach is proposed that involves treating true stress-true strain curves in uniaxial compression tests at various temperatures, and different strain rates in 0.1C-6Ni steel, which is a model alloy used to decelerate the kinetics of ferrite transformation from austenite. The initial flow stress up to peak stress was used to analyze the change in dynamic softening phenomena, such as dynamic recovery, dynamic recrystallization, and dynamic transformation. It is worth mentioning that for predicting the occurrence of dynamic transformation, flow stress before reaching peak stress is much more sensitive to the change in the dynamic softening rate due to dynamic transformation, compared to peak stress. It was found that the occurrence of dynamic ferritic transformation could be successfully obtained even at temperatures above Ae3 once the deformation condition was satisfied. This deformation condition is a function of both the strain rate and the deformation temperature, which can be described as the Zener - Hollomon parameter. In addition, the driving force of dynamic ferritic transformation might be much less than that of the dynamic recrystallization of austenite at a given deformation condition. By applying this technique, it is possible to predict the occurrence of dynamic transformation more sensitively compared with the previous analysis method using peak stress during deformation. Key words: low-carbon steel, hot deformation, dynamic recrystallization, dynamic transformation, flow stress analysis