Coarse-grained Steel Research Articles

Exceptional cryogenic-to-ambient impact toughness of a low carbon micro-alloyed steel with a multi-heterogeneous structure

A low-carbon micro-alloyed (LCMA) steel with a body-centered cubic (bcc) crystal structure suitable for extremely low temperatures was developed by overcoming the intrinsic ductile-to-brittle transition in bcc alloys at cryogenic temperatures. The excellent cryogenic-to-ambient impact toughness in the LCMA rolled plate results from its heterogeneous microstructure, which gradually changes from bamboo-like ultrafine grains (∼ 1.1 μm) on the surface to relatively equiaxed coarse grains in the core (∼ 3.4 μm), accompanied by a distinct texture gradient variation. The heterostructured LCMA steel displays a cryogenic impact toughness of ∼200 J/cm2 at 77 K, which is 24 times higher than the coarse-grained LCMA steel. Such high impact toughness of heterostructured LCMA arises from the coordinated deformation mechanisms over different length-scales coupled with delamination toughening. At 77 K, the heterostructured steel plate deforms by forming cellular sub-structures at the core to the surface, which refines the microstructure and promotes hetero-deformation induced (HDI) hardening to improve intrinsic toughening. Moreover, the subsequent delamination process induces extrinsic toughening by shielding and blunting the cracks, with the local plane-stress conditions induced by delamination promoting ductile fracture of the coarse grains in the core regions. This low alloy steel with its heterogeneous microstructure exhibits extraordinary impact toughness at cryogenic temperatures highlights the possibility of materials design strategies for sustainable development.

The friction-induced microstructures changes of 18Cr-8Ni austenitic stainless steels with different grain sizes

Abstract The friction and wear performance, wear morphology and friction-induced subsurface microstructural characteristics of 18Cr-8Ni austenitic stainless steels with coarse-grained (CG), heterogeneous ultrafine-grained (HUFG), and nano/ultrafine-grained (NG/UFG) microstructures after dry sliding wear under room temperature were studied. The results reveal that HUFG steel with a good match between hardness and plasticity exhibits the best wear performance, followed by CG steel, while NG/UFG steel with the highest hardness exhibits the poorest wear performance. From the element distribution map, the contents of O and Si in the delamination and wear debris are relatively high. O is relatively evenly distributed on the whole wear surface of HUFG steel, and there is a continuous oxide layer on its wear surface. After the wear test, the hardness increment near the wear surface of the CG sample is the largest, and the depth affected by sliding is the largest, followed by the HUFG sample, and those of the NG/UFG steel are the smallest. The repeated frictional shear stress causes the formation of cracks between the mechanical mixed layer and the plastic deformation layer, and the continuous expansion of cracks can help oxygen elements diffuse deeply, causing the deformation layer materials to fall off.

Shear band development in bending of coarse-grained martensitic steel sheets

Shear band development in bending of coarse-grained martensitic steel sheets

STUDY OF STRENGTH, RELAXATION AND CORROSION RESISTANCE OF ULTRAFINE AUSTENITIC STEEL 08H18N10T OBTAINED BY RCU-PRESSING. II. RESEARCH OF RELAXATION PROPERTIES AND RESISTANCE AGAINST INTERCRYSTALLITE CORROSION

Relaxation resistance and corrosion resistance of samples of ultrafine-grained steel 08H18N10T obtained by the method of equal-channel angular pressing at temperatures of 150 and 450 °C are investigated. For ultrafine-grained steel with high values of the limit of macroelasticity and yield strength, a decrease in the Hall—Petch coefficient due to fragmentation of δ-ferrite particles at the method of equal-channel angular pressing is shown. It is established that the samples of ultrafine-grained steel have 2-3 times higher relaxation resistance compared to coarse-grained steel. It is noted that the method of equal-channel angular pressing leads to an increase in the rate of general corrosion. At the same time, despite the decrease in corrosion resistance, samples of ultrafine-grained steels have high resistance to intercrystalline corrosion. It is established that the decrease in corrosion resistance of ultrafine-grained steel is due to an increase in the volume fraction of martensite deformation at the method of equal-channel angular pressing.

Research on multi-scale failure mechanism of gradient nanostructured 316L steel under strain-controlled fatigue at 650 °C

Gradient nanostructured materials have excellent fatigue resistance. At present, there are few research on the fatigue properties of gradient nanostructured (GNS) materials at high temperature. Herein, the multi-scale failure mechanism of GNS 316L steel at 650 °C is studied, and the high temperature fatigue tests under different strain amplitudes are conducted. Then, post-test microstructure observations were carried out to reveal the damage mechanisms, and the fatigue behavior was numerically simulated by crystal plasticity model. The experimental results show that the strength of the GNS 316L steel is still higher than that of the coarse-grained (CG) 316L steel at 650 °C, and the fatigue life of the GNS 316L steel is also higher than that of the CG one under strain fatigue loadings. The fatigue fracture results show that the fatigue crack presents a mixed propagation mode, and the crack source of GNS 316L transfers from surface to subsurface under low strain amplitude. The numerical results directly reflect the influence of the GNS surface layer on the plastic slip behavior. The fatigue failure mechanism of GNS 316L steel under strain-controlled cyclic loading at 650 °C was explained from a multi-scale perspective. This study provides data and method support for the application of GNS 316L steel at high temperature.

Unusual grain-size effects on tensile deformation behavior of twinning-induced plasticity steel with low Mn content

In this work, the effects of grain refinement on the tensile properties, dynamic strain aging (DSA) and twinning behavior of Fe–16Mn-0.6C steel, which has relatively low manganese content, were investigated using a room-temperature monotonic tensile test, OM, XRD, EBSD and TEM. Results show that the yield strength, tensile strength and elongation of the steel increase with the decrease of grain size. Grain refinement can significantly increase the serration amplitude and local strain concentration of DSA, thereby enhancing the DSA-strengthening effect. The microstructure observations show that with the formation of plentiful twins, the twinning capacity of coarse-grained steel is exhausted prematurely at initial strains. Although the twinning behavior of fine-grained steel is retarded in the early stage of deformation, a large number of fine and dense twinning structures can be produced continuously at high strains. This unique twinning behavior and enhanced DSA in the fine-grained steel maintain the strain-hardening capacity of the steel, which delays the plastic instability and hence brings about simultaneous increases in strength and ductility.

Nonlinear Beamforming Based on Amplitude Coherence Applied to Ultrasonic Imaging of Coarse-Grained Steels

Abstract This paper deals with ultrasonic imaging in a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) context. In particular, we are focused on the inspection of coarse-grained steels having a heterogeneous composition that creates structural noise in the ultrasonic signals and images. The standard way to beamform the acquired ultrasonic data is by delay-and-sum (DAS). This method is fast but suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for coarse-grained steel inspection. In this paper, we propose to adapt a coherence-based beamformer called pDAS from the medical imaging community. pDAS beamforming is based on DAS structure but includes p-root and p-power before and after summations, respectively. It results in an enhancement of the coherent summation of signals that improves both resolution and contrast. Coherence-based beamformers are known to enhance information whose acoustic response correlates with geometrical information, that is why they decrease grating lobes and side lobes, specular echoes, reconstruction artifacts, and noise due to multiple scattering. In this paper, the pDAS beamformer is proposed for two common acquisition schemes employed in NDE that are plane wave imaging (PWI) and full matrix capture (FMC). The beamformers have been efficiently implemented for parallel computing on graphics processing unit (GPU) in a context of real-time imaging and fast part scanning in NDE. First, experimental results are presented from an austenitic-ferritic sample from the power generation industry that contains side drilled holes (SDH) with diameter 0.4 mm at several depths. pDAS (for p from two to three) shows improvements in terms of SNR and resolution compared to standard DAS, both in PWI and FMC modalities. We also show that the computation cost of pDAS is equivalent to DAS. A real application on a sample containing a fatigue crack connected to the backwall is exposed. We show that pDAS beamformer can enhance crack response compared to grains, but it also decreases unwanted information such as backwall specular echoes and reconstruction artifacts.

High-resolution ultrasonic imaging of the defects in coarse-grained steel by a weighted total focusing method

Ultrasonic testing of coarse-grained materials is strongly influenced by high-level scattering noise. In addition, the signalto-noise ratio (SNR) and spatial resolution of imaging by the traditional total focusing method (TFM) are relatively low. In this study, we focused on the reconstruction of high-resolution ultrasonic images from full matrix capture datasets. A weighted TFM image by combining the inverse problem-based method and traditional TFM is proposed to detect defects in coarse-grained steel. The proposed method was used to image defects with the full matrix data obtained through simulations and experiments. The simulation and experimental results show that the weighted total focusing method can significantly improve the SNR of ultrasonic imaging in coarse-grained steel and, moreover, it can improve the resolution of imaging and distinguish adjacent defects with a centre distance less than the Rayleigh criteria.

Evolution of deformation microstructure in a coarse-grained Fe-Mn-Al-C steel under bending fatigue

• Pre-saturation stage was fully austenitic under cyclic loading. • γ → ∊ martensitic transformation was detected. • Extended dislocations and channel-vein structures were observed. • Dislocation densities were relatively low. Microstructure evolution during cyclic deformation of a coarse-grained (∼25 μm) high-Mn steel under high-cycle bending fatigue at room temperature is reported. Vickers microhardness initially increased until 10,000 cycles indicating cyclic hardening but almost saturated at prolonged cycling. The cyclic deformation of austenite leads to formation of perfect dislocations and stacking faults, as well as shear bands in the pre-saturation stage, while the formation of minor amount of ∊ -martensite was observed at intersections of shear bands at the saturation stage. Dislocation densities estimated by X-ray diffraction were relatively low ∼10 14 m −2 .

Formation mechanism of the eye-shaped nano-twin bundles in cold rolled 316L stainless steel

The microstructural evolution of a typical coarse-grained 316L stainless steel was explored with the rolling reduction changed from 0% to 80%. The formation mechanism of the novel eye-shaped nano-twin (NT) bundles was clearly revealed. The results show that numerous dislocations were propagated and accumulated around original grain/annealing-twin boundaries at low rolling strain level (20%), which led to a high stress concentration and induced the generation of deformation twin bundles. With the rolling reduction increase to 40%, the number of deformation twin bundles increased and the average thickness of deformation twins decreased. In addition, some micro shear bands were motivated to cut the deformation twin bundles, resulting in the formation of eye-shaped deformation twin bundles. With the further increase of the rolling reduction (60–80%), the average thickness of deformation twins was decreased to nano-scale. Many eye-shaped NT bundles were formed by the cutting activity from the micro shear bands.

Microstructural Evolution and Stability of Coarse-Grained S31254 Super Austenitic Stainless Steel during Hot Deformation

The ingot of S31254 super austenitic stainless steel (SASS) was annealed at 1220 °C for 70 h to eliminate the segregation of Mo element, and the grain size grows to the level of millimeter. The stress–strain response and microstructural evolution of coarse-grained S31254 SASS were investigated by hot compression tests in the temperature range of 950–1250 °C and strain rate range of 0.001–10 s−1. The results showed that the energy required for plastic deformation improved with the increase of strain rate and the decrease of deformation temperature. The hot deformation activation energy was calculated to be 542.91 kJ·mol−1 through the regression analysis of hyperbolic-sine function, and the constitutive equation was established. Processing maps were constructed, and two optimal hot working parameters ranges were clarified. Due to the low fraction of grain boundaries, the main deformation mechanism of coarse-grained S31254 SASS was dynamic recovery. However, when the deformation temperature improved to 1250 °C, recrystallized grains began to nucleate and grow along with the band-like structure within the austenitic grains. When the deformation temperature is 950–1150 °C, the microstructural stability of S31254 SASS under tension stress was excellent. However, when the temperature and the strain rate were 1250 °C and 0.5 s−1 respectively, the microstructural stability deteriorated resulting from the formation of δ-ferrite phase and local melting of austenitic grain boundaries.

Study on Dynamic Mechanical Behaviors and J–C Constitutive Model of a Fine-Grained D6A Steel

The uniaxial tensile loading tests of coarse-grained D6A steel (CG, d = 20 μm) and fine-grained D6A steel (FG, d = 1.5 μm) were performed using a material testing machine and rotating disk Hopkinson tension bar, respectively. The stress–strain curves of two steels at different strain rates (0.001~1500 s−1) were obtained. Results show that grain refinement effectively improves the strength of FG steel, which is achieved by high-density of grain boundaries and cementite particles hindering the movement of dislocations. In the strain rate range of the test, the strain rate sensitivity of FG D6A steel decreases, which is considered to be the result of the athermal stress that independent of the strain rate becomes the dominant part of the total stress. Combined with the experimental data, the parameters of the Johnson–Cook (J–C) constitutive model were calibrated. The stress–strain curves obtained by simulations are in good agreement with those from tests. These results may provide an important experimental reference and theoretical basis for the application of FG D6A steel in various fields.

Inhibition of galvanic corrosion between crystallographic orientations in low alloy steel by grain ultra-refinement

Grain refinement is an effective strategy to improve the mechanical properties of metallic materials, while the effect of grain refinement on corrosion performance is still unclear and should be widely concerned. Herein, the corrosion behaviors of ultrafine-grained steel with an average grain size of 0.6 µm prepared by cold-rolling followed by heat treatment were investigated. Ultrafine-grained steel shows lower current density (8.1 μA·cm−2), higher charge transfer resistance (1813 Ω·cm2), and polarization resistance (2542 Ω·cm2) than coarse-grained steel with the current density of 18.1 μA·cm−2, the charge transfer resistance of 1276 Ω·cm2, and the polarization resistance of 1288 Ω·cm2. The details of corrosion morphology indicated that coarse-grained steel underwent severe intra-granular corrosion, and the height difference between corroded grain and uncorroded grain is about 1.0 µm. The corrosion susceptibility of different grain orientation increases in the order {001} > {111} > {101}, and the potential difference along the {101}→{001}, {111}→{001}, and {101}→{111} is ca. 65, 55 and 10 mV, respectively. Results identified that the grain ultra-refinement can improve the corrosion resistance of low alloy steel and prevent galvanic corrosion between grains with different crystallographic orientations. The work explained the influence of grain refinement on corrosion behavior in detail and clarified the relevant contradiction reported in the existing literature.

High-Speed Erichsen Testing of Grain-Refined 301LN Austenitic Stainless Steel Processed by Double-Reversion Annealing

Austenitic Cr–Ni stainless-type 301LN steel was subjected to a double-reversion annealing (DRA) treatment to develop bulk grain-refined microstructures. The tensile properties and formability of the DRA structures were determined by high-speed tensile and Erichsen cupping tests at a strain rate of 1.5 s−1 (50 mm s−1) and compared with those of coarse-grained steel. Detailed microstructural features of the DRA structures were characterized using the electron backscatter diffraction technique and X-ray diffraction analysis. The DRA structures achieved by annealing for 1 second at 800 °C and 900 °C exhibited a superior combination of yield (~ 950 and 770 MPa, respectively) and tensile (~ 1050 and 950 MPa, respectively) strengths and ductility (~ 35 and 40 pct, respectively, as well as reasonable Erichsen index values under high-speed biaxial strain. Due to adiabatic heating, the DRA structures had higher austenite stability during high-speed stretch forming, i.e., were less prone to strain-induced martensitic transformation. The finite-element method (FEM) was used to conduct coupled field thermomechanical analyses of the high-speed deformation processes for the coarse-grained and DRA structures. Comparison of the FEM analyses with the experimental results revealed a considerable influence (~ 20 pct) of martensitic transformation on the adiabatic temperature rise. The balance of the yield strength and Erichsen index value of the developed nanograined microstructure is comparable to that of coarse-grained commercial steel.

Quantitative Characterization of the Affected Zones in a Single Crystal Fe-6Si Steel Sheet by Fine Piercing.

An iron loss in the motor core was often enhanced by formation of plastically affected zones in piercing the electrical steel sheets. A platform methodology to carry out quantitative evaluation of these affected zones in the pierced electrical steel sheets was proposed to search for the way to minimize the affected zone widths. A coarse-grained electrical steel sheet was employed as a work material for a fine piercing experiment under the narrowed clearance between the plasma-nitrided SKD11 punch and core-die. The shearing behavior by the applied loading for piercing was described by in situ measurement of the load-stroke relationship. The plastic straining in the single-crystal electrical steel sheet was characterized by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and EBSD (electron back-scattering diffraction) to define the affected zone size and to analyze the rotation of crystallographic orientations by the induced plastic distortion during piercing. Integral and differentiation of spin rotation measured the affected zones. The effect of punch edge sharpness on these spin-rotation measures was also discussed using the nitrided and ion-milled SKD11 punch and core-die.

Creep Resistance of S304H Austenitic Steel Processed by High-Pressure Sliding.

Sheets of coarse-grained S304H austenitic steel were processed by high-pressure sliding (HPS) at room temperature and a ultrafine-grained microstructure with a mean grain size of about 0.14 µm was prepared. The microstructure changes and creep behavior of coarse-grained and HPS-processed steel were investigated at 500–700 °C under the application of different loads. It was found that the processing of S304H steel led to a significant improvement in creep strength at 500 °C. However, a further increase in creep temperature to 600 °C and 700 °C led to the deterioration of creep behavior of HPS-processed steel. The microstructure results suggest that the creep behavior of HPS-processed steel is associated with the thermal stability of the SPD-processed microstructure. The recrystallization, grain growth, the coarsening of precipitates led to a reduction in creep strength of the HPS-processed state. It was also observed that in the HPS-processed microstructure the fast formation of σ-phase occurs. The σ-phase was already formed during slight grain coarsening at 600 °C and its formation was enhanced after recrystallization at 700 °C.

Influence of High Pressure Sliding and Rotary Swaging on Creep Behavior of P92 Steel at 500 °C

High-pressure sliding (HPS) and rotary swaging (RS) at room temperature were used to form severely deformed microstructures in martensitic creep-resistant P92 steel. The deformed microstructures contained markedly different ratios of low- and high-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs/HAGBs). The application of the RS method, with an imposed equivalent strain of 1.4, led to the formation of a heterogeneous microstructure with a high number of LAGBs, while the HPS method, with an imposed equivalent strain of 7.8, led to the formation of a relatively homogeneous ultrafine-grained microstructure with a significant predominance of HAGBs. Microstructure analyses after creep testing showed that the microstructure of RS- and HPS-processed P92 steel is quite stable, but a slight coarsening of subgrains and grains during creep testing can be observed. Constant load tensile creep tests at 500 °C and initial stresses ranging from 300 to 900 MPa revealed that the specimens processed by HPS exhibited higher creep strength (slower minimum creep rate) and ductility compared to the coarse-grained and RS-processed P92 steel. However, the HPS-processed P92 steel also exhibited lower values of stress exponent n than the other investigated states of P92 steel. For this reason, the differences in minimum creep rates determined for different states decrease with decreasing values of applied stress, and at applied stresses lower than 500 MPa, the creep resistance of the RS-processed state is higher than the creep resistance of the HPS-processed state.

Strength and fracture mechanism during torsion of ultrafine-grained austenitic steel for medical applications

The article considers evaluation of torsional strength and fracture of austenitic corrosion-resistant steel 08Kh18N9 with an ultrafine-grained (UFG) and coarse-grained (CG) structure, widely used in medicine for the production of plates, screws, rods for bone osteosynthesis and other medical products. The structure of the CG steel was studied using an Axiovert 40 MAT metallographic microscope, and the fine structure of the UFG steel was investigated with a JEM-2100 transmission electron microscope. Torsion tests of the cylindrical samples with a diameter of 10 mm were carried out at a temperature of 20 °C on MK-50 installation. JEOL JCM-6000 scanning electron microscope was used for the microfractographic studies of fracture surfaces. The analysis of the “Torque - torsion angle” diagrams showed that the torsional ultimate strength (τt) and yield strength (τ0.3) of UFG steel increase by 1.3 - 3.8 times, and the relative shear (g) decreases by 2.4 times in comparison with CG steel. High values of torsional strength properties of UFG steel make it possible to provide high torque without destroying the product. Consequently UFG steel 08Kh18N9 in comparison with CG steel is a more promising material for the manufacture of medical screws and other medical products that experience significant loads during the torsion process. Three areas were identified on the surface of all fractures: fibrous central part, transitional (middle) part, and a relatively smooth peripheral part. Fracture begins with the formation of shear pits in the middle and peripheral parts, which, with further rotation of the sample, are completely rubbed out (in case CG steel), or remain (in case of UFG steel). Final failure occurs under the action of normal stresses in the central part of the sample.

Strength and Fracture Mechanism during Torsion of Ultrafine-Grained Austenitic Steel for Medical Applications

The article considers evaluation of torsional strength and fracture of austenitic corrosion-resistant steel 08Kh18N9 with an ultrafine-grained (UFG) and coarse-grained (CG) structure, widely used in medicine for the production of plates, screws, rods for bone osteosynthesis and other medical products. The structure of the CG steel was studied using an Axiovert 40 MAT metallographic microscope, and the fine structure of the UFG steel was investigated with a JEM-2100 transmission electron microscope. Torsion tests of the cylindrical samples with a diameter of 10 mm were carried out at a temperature of 20°C on MK-50 installation. JEOL JCM-6000 scanning electron microscope was used for the microfractographic studies of fracture surfaces. The analysis of the torque–torsion angle diagrams showed that the torsional ultimate strength (τt) and yield strength (τ0.3) of UFG steel increase by the factor of 1.3–3.8, and the relative shear (g) decreases by the factor of 2.4 in comparison with CG steel. High values of torsional strength properties of UFG steel make it possible to provide high torque without destroying the product. Consequently, UFG steel 08Kh18N9 in comparison with CG steel is a more promising material for the manufacturing of medical screws and other medical products that experience significant loads during the torsion process. Three areas were identified on the surface of all fractures: fibrous central part, transitional (middle) part, and a relatively smooth peripheral part. Fracture begins with the formation of shear pits in the middle and peripheral parts, which, with further rotation of the sample, are completely rubbed out (in case CG steel), or remain (in case of UFG steel). Final failure occurs under the action of normal stresses in the central part of the sample.

Effect of grain size on dynamic strain aging behavior of C-bearing high Mn twinning-induced plasticity steel

In this work, the effects of grain size on the tensile properties, serrated flow, Portevin-Le Châtelier (PLC) band evolution, dislocation density, and microstructure evolution of Fe–22Mn-0.6C steel were investigated using digital image correlation (DIC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and monotonic tensile tests. Results show that the yield strength, tensile strength, and work hardening value of Fe–22Mn-0.6C steel increase whereas its elongation decreases with decreasing grain size. The critical strain of serration decreases whereas the amplitude of serration increases with decreasing grain size. Moreover, the plateau of serrations is larger and that the strain concentration within PLC bands is more severe in fine-grained steel than in coarse-grained steel. The dynamic strain aging (DSA) behavior of the steel is enhanced by grain refinement. The speed of PLC band movement decreases faster in fine-grained steel than in coarse-grained steel, which results in a decrease in plasticity. XRD and TEM analyses show that the high dislocation density and unique twin substructure may be the main reasons for the strong DSA phenomenon observed in fine-grained steel.