Properties Of Bainitic Steel Research Articles

Effects of Heat Treatment Parameters on the Microstructure and Properties of Bainitic Steel

The results obtained in the present study demonstrate the effects of various types of heat treatment processes on the microstructure and hardness of new trip-assisted carbide-free bainitic steel. The steel was subjected to three variants of heat treatment processing with an isothermal bainitic transformation temperature in a range from 350 to 480 °C. Changes of temperature and time of isothermal holding caused changes in the values of retained austenite (RA) volume fraction and carbon content. Reduction in the isothermal holding temperature resulted in the increased concentration of carbon in austenite. Also, the investigations of the microstructure showed that size and morphology of the austenite evolved during heat treatment. The SEM observations revealed that the steel subjected to heat treatment is composed of the carbide-free bainite with ferrite plates and a high volume fraction of retained austenite in the form of thin layers or islands. With the lower isothermal holding temperature and the higher degree of bainitic transformation, the more the RA morphology changed from island to layer type. The application of the lowest isothermal temperature resulted in a significant refinement of the microstructure components: the bainitic ferrite plates and the RA layers. Also, the mechanical properties obtained from the tensile testing and hardness measurements were correlated to the microstructure of the investigated steel after different isothermal holdings.

Effects of Al addition on bainite transformation and properties of high-strength carbide-free bainitic steels

The effects of aluminum addition on bainite transformation and properties of carbide-free bainitic steels containing 0.22 wt.% carbon were investigated by two different types of heat treatment processes: continuous cooling process (CCP) and isothermal transformation process (ITP). The results indicate that for the CCP treatment, Al addition significantly promoted the ferrite and bainite transformation; however, it did not significantly increase the product of tensile strength and total elongation (PSE). For the ITP treatment, Al addition significantly promoted the kinetics of bainite transformation, and thus, more bainite was formed with Al addition; however, it was found that Al addition resulted in a decrease in tensile strength and an increase in elongation of the tested bainitic steels. Moreover, the effects of Al addition on comprehensive property were profoundly dependent on austempering temperatures. When the austempering temperature was higher (430 °C), PSE significantly increased with Al addition, whereas it decreased at the lower austempering temperature (400 °C). Therefore, it can be concluded that the effects of Al on properties of bainitic steels were more significant at higher austempering temperatures.

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of High Strength Low Carbon Bainitic Steel

Based on TMCP and UFC technology, the microstructures and mechanical properties of 0.05% C bainitic steel were studied in this paper. The bainite morphology and precipitation within bainite lath were observed by SEM and TEM, and the mechanical properties of bainitic steel were measured by tensile and impact test. The results showed that the yield and tensile strengths of steel were 713 MPa and 891 MPa respectively, and the elongation was 15.8% with impact energy of 95J at the temperature of-20°C as the final cooling temperature in hot rolling of 550°C. For comparison, the steel obtained the yield strength of 725 MPa, tensile strength of 930 MPa and elongation of 18% as the final cooling temperature of 450°C. However, the impact energy of steel was 195J at the temperature of-20°C. While at the same final cooling temperature of 450°C, the fast cooling-holding temperature-fast cooling was applied to experimental steel with a faster cooling rate of 50°C/s, hence the steel acquired the yield strength of 845 MPa, tensile strength of 1037 MPa, and elongation of 15.5% with impact energy of 168J at the temperature of-20°C. The strength and toughness of 0.05%C bainitic steel is related to the bainite morphology and precipitation distribution. Hence, the strength and toughness can be improved by control the different cooling processes for adjusting the content of lath bainite, distribution of granular bainite and precipitation.

Microstructural Evolution of Bainitic Steel Severely Deformed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing

High Si bainitic steel has been received much of interest because of combined ultra high strength, good ductility along with high wear resistance. In this study a high Si bainitic steel (Fe-0.22C-2.0Si-3.0Mn) was used with a proper microstructure which could endure severe plastic deformation. In order to study the effect of severe plastic deformation on the microstructure and properties of bainitic steel, Equal Channel Angular Pressing was performed in two passes at room temperature. Optical, SEM and TEM microscopies were used to examine the microstructure of specimens before and after Equal Channel Angular Pressing processing. X-ray diffraction was used to measure retained austenite after austempering and Equal Channel Angular Pressing processing. It can be seen that retained austenite picks had removed after Equal Channel Angular Pressing which could attributed to the transformation of austenite to martensite during severe plastic deformation. Enhancement of hardness values by number of Equal Channel Angular Pressing confirms this idea.

Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Bainitic Steels Deformed in Unrecrystallized Austenite Region

Bainite structure in low carbon low alloy steels has played an important role for the practical use of these steels in many constructions[1,2]. By improving the strength and toughness they will be applied to new fields in the future. From the viewpoint of microstructure, it is a packet size that determines the toughness of bainitic steels. Optical micrographs of upper bainite structures exhibit a straight elongated lathlike bainitic ferrite whose growth is determined by austenite grain boundaries. However the application of accelerated cooling after controlled rolling [1,2] makes the microstructures considerably different from those in the conventional quenching and tempering process. Although some of these complicated microstructures have been called Zw[3] , the nature of them has never been clarified. It is very important to define an effective way to refine the bainite structure by the deformation in unrecrystallized austenite region in order to improve the toughness of steel plates. This study focuses upon the effects of deformation on the morphology of bainite structure and mechanical properties in low carbon low alloy bainitic steels.

Effect of alloying elements on the microstructure and properties of a hot-rolled low-carbon low-alloy bainitic steel

A two-level full factorial statistical experiment consisting of eight alloys was conducted to determine the effect of 2 pct cobalt, 1 pct nickel and 1 pct chromium on the hot-rolled microstructure and properties of a bainitic steel containing 0.2 pct C, 2 pct Mn, 1 pct Si, 0.75 pct Mo and 0.003 pct B. The results indicate that chromium induced the formation of the acicular bainitic structure while cobalt favored massive ferrite formation and resulted in islands of martensite and/or austenite. Nickel, when added singly, did not appear to influence the microstructure but in combination with chromium, enhanced the formation of the lower bainitic structure. The mechanical properties were statistically analyzed and statistical equations were obtained to predict optimized compositions. These equations indicate that chromium increased the toughness of these steels more than nickel. However, it was shown that with similar bainitic structures, nickel enhanced the toughness more than chromium. The results illustrate the short-coming of a pure statistical approach to the design of alloys.