Formation of ultrafine grained structure in plain carbon steels through thermomechanical processing

The formation of ultrafine-grained structure in steels by various thermomechanical processings is reviewed from a metallurgical point of view. In the recent new type TMCP, ultrafine ferrite grains with a grain size of about 1μm are obtained when the austenite is heavily deformed at lower temperatures. In this case, dynamic phenomena such as dynamic recrystallization become prominent in the process. In the aging after heavy cold rolling of supersaturated matrix phase in two-phase alloys, the competition between the recovery or recrystallization of matrix phase and the precipitation of second phase occurs, resulting in various types of two-phase structures including microduplex structure. Microduplex structure is also obtained by annealing after heavy cold rolling of coarse two-phase structure in duplex stainless steel and high carbon steel. Recently, various severe plastic deformation processings, in which very large plastic strain over 4 is applied to the materials, have been developed to produce ultrafine grained materials with nanocrystalline and/or submicrocrystalline structures.

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Microstructural Investigation of a Friction-Welded 316L Stainless Steel with Ultrafine-Grained Structure Obtained by Hydrostatic Extrusion

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14061537 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 1537

Author(s):

Beata Skowrońska ◽

Tomasz Chmielewski ◽

Mariusz Kulczyk ◽

Jacek Skiba ◽

Sylwia Przybysz

Keyword(s):

Stainless Steel ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

Friction Welding ◽

High Speed ◽

316L Stainless Steel ◽

Welded Joint ◽

Microstructural Investigation ◽

Ultrafine Grained Structure ◽

Ultrafine Grained ◽

Friction Joint

The paper presents the microstructural investigation of a friction-welded joint made of 316L stainless steel with an ultrafine-grained structure obtained by hydrostatic extrusion (HE). Such a plastically deformed material is characterized by a metastable state of energy equilibrium, increasing, among others, its sensitivity to high temperatures. This feature makes it difficult to weld ultra-fine-grained metals without losing their high mechanical properties. The use of high-speed friction welding and a friction time of <1 s reduced the scale of the weakening of the friction joint in relation to result obtained in conventional rotary friction welding. The study of changes in the microstructure of individual zones of the friction joint was carried out on an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis system. The correlation between the microstructure and hardness of the friction joint is also presented. The heat released during the high-speed friction welding initiated the process of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) of single grains in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). The additional occurrence of strong plastic deformations (in HAZ) during flash formation and internal friction (in the friction weld and high-temperature HAZ) contributed to the formation of a highly deformed microstructure with numerous sub-grains. The zones with a microstructure other than the base material were characterized by lower hardness. Due to the complexity of the microstructure and its multifactorial impact on the properties of the friction-welded joint, strength should be the criterion for assessing the properties of the joint.

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