Abstract
By means of torsion testing, the microstructures and mechanical properties produced in a 0.14 Pct C-1.18 Pct Mn steel were investigated over a wide range of hot-rolling conditions, cooling rates, and simulated coiling temperatures. The austenite grain size present before accelerated cooling was varied from 10 to 150 μm by applying strains of 0 to 0.8 at temperatures of 850 °C to 1050 °C. Two cooling rates, 55 °C/s and 90 °C/s, were used. Cooling was interrupted at temperatures ranging from 550 °C to 300 °C. Optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to investigate the microstructures. The mechanical properties were studied by means of tensile testing. When a fine austenite grain size was present before cooling and a high cooling rate (90 °C/s) was used, the microstructure was composed of ferrite plus bainite and a mixture of ferrite and cementite, which may have formed by an interphase mechanism. The use of a lower cooling rate (55 °C/s) led to the presence of ferrite and fine pearlite. In both cases, the cooling interruption temperature and the amount of prior strain had little influence on the mechanical properties. Reheating at 1050 °C, which led to the presence of very coarse austenite, resulted in a stronger influence of the interruption temperature. A method developed at Institut de Recherche Siderurgique (IRSID, St. Germain-en-Laye, France) for deducing the Continuous-Cooling-Transformation (CCT) diagrams from the cooling data was adapted to the present apparatus and used successfully to interpret the observed influence of the process parameters.
Published Version
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