Effect of Cooling Rate on the Volume Fractions of the Constituent Phases of the Tempcore Steel Rebars

Tempcore process considers the widest process that is being used in the production of reinforced steel rebar. The normal tempcore process is fundamentally dependent on the amount of latent heat in the core of the steel rebar, and the cooling rate of the rebar cross-section. Cooled water box and the cooling bed have a powerful effect on the cooling rate of the steel rebar. This research has been designed to monitor the continuous cooling transformation CCT diagram of steel rebar with different two contents of residual elements. Moreover, the effect of the cooling bed’s conditions has been simulated to identify the effect of cooling rate at the cooling bed step on the microstructure, as well as the hardness value of the produced steel rebar. It was found that the cooling rate at the cooling bed step has a great powerful effect on the produced steel rebar in term of bainite phase increment, and the hardness value as well.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of V-Alloyed Rebars Subjected to Tempcore Process

Two B400B-R and B500B grade rebars were industrially produced through a Tempcore process. The standard chemical composition of B500B grade was additionally alloyed with 0.067 wt.% V to enhance its mechanical properties. A set of optimized processing parameters were applied to manufacture two different diameters D20 (Ø 20 mm) and D32 (Ø 32 mm). The microstructure -mechanical properties relationships were evaluated using optical and scanning electron microscopes, hardness, and tensile testing. In addition, a thermal model was developed to define the thermal cycle evolution during cooling in the quenching & tempering box (QTB) to simulate the kinetics of V(C,N) precipitation. The microstructure observations showed a typical graded microstructure consisting of ferrite-pearlite core and outer tempered martensite ring for both grades of both diameters. The optimized processing parameters for B400B-R of D32 (compared with D20) resulted in softening of the core (from 160 to 135 HV10) and tempered martensite surface (from 220 to 200 HV10) as well as in decreasing the yield strength (from 455 to 413 MPa) and tensile strength (from 580 to 559 MPa). On the contrary, an increase in hardness of the core (from 165 to 175 HV10) and the outer tempered martensite (from 240 to 270 HV10), in addition to an increase in yield strength (from 510 to 537 MPa) at almost the same level of tensile strength of 624–626 MPa are observed for B500B grade D32 compared with D20. The modeling and simulation calculations suggest that the manufacturing D32 rebars of B500B grade involves longer quenching time in the QTB which allow deeper tempered martensite surface along with a relatively higher core temperature that renders faster kinetics and larger volume fraction of V(C,N) precipitates. The current study demonstrates that the full potential of V-alloying can be exploited when a sufficient quenching time at the equalization temperature is achieved, which is valid for D32 rebars.

Study on the Effect of V Microalloying on Earthquake Resisting High-Strength Reinforcing Bar Steels

Recently, the frequency of earthquakes has been increasing worldwide. As a result, steel reinforced with seismic performance that can satisfy the social needs to strengthen the existing seismic performance of existing infrastructure facilities and new buildings has become important. In general, to secure the yield strength of reinforcing bars and to reduce the production cost, reinforcing bars are produced by rolling the surface through a facility such as a Tempcore. In Korea, most of them have adopted the Tempcore process to ensure the mechanical requirements of the product. However, the use of a small amount of alloying elements and the application of Tempcore have limitations in producing reinforcing bars that require seismic performance. In recent years, remarkable progress has been made in the production and application of high strength rebars. Microalloying and fine-grain strengthening are the most effective methods in developing high strength rebars. That is, the precipitation of V (C, N) is promoted by the addition of V to improve the strength by precipitation strengthening of V-carbonitride. However, in V-microalloyed reinforcing bars, it was confirmed that the required strength did not increase proportional to the amount of V added. In this study, the effects of vanadium and other alloying elements on the mechanical properties and yield ratio of steel bars were investigated by tensile test results and microstructural evaluation.

Tempcore Process Simulator to Analyze Microstructural Evolution of Quenched and Tempered Rebar

Tempcore process simulator (TPS) has been developed in this study to analyze the microstructural evolution of quenched and tempered rebar. There has been an increasing need to relate the complex microstructures to the resulting properties of quenched and tempered rebar. However, information on such relationships typically requires precise thermal histories imposed on the workpiece. Therefore, TPS, capable of simulating the Tempcore process, has been developed to produce high-fidelity data. TPS mainly consists of a vacuum induction furnace, pilot rolling mill, box furnace, and cooling unit to simulate shop floor operations. A series of experimental tests were successfully carried out with various parameters, such as reheating temperature, water flow, water pressure, and cooling time. The effects of chemical compositions and cooling time on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of quenched and tempered rebar have been analyzed to validate the performance of TPS. The results show that TPS can simulate the Tempcore process with a high degree of fidelity and reliability.

Mechanical Properties of Cast-in Anchor Bolts Manufactured of Reinforcing Tempcore Steel

The tempcore process is implemented in rolling mills to produce high strength reinforcing steel. Besides being used as reinforcement, rebars are also used as the base material for the manufacturing of anchor bolts. The mechanical properties of reinforcement bars used in Europe are assessed in accordance with Eurocode without the recommendations for cast-in anchor bolts. The material properties of Tempcore rebars are not homogenous over the bar cross section. The European Assessment Document (EAD) for the cast-in anchor bolts does not exactly specify the mechanical properties of the thread part. The aim of these experiments is to show the different mechanical properties of rebars and their thread parts. The experiments were performed on rebars modified by peeling to characterize the reduction of diameter in a thread part. As a possible way to predict mechanical properties in a non-destructive way, the hardness tests were performed. Next, the application of the correlation relationship between hardness and tensile strength has been determined. The paper formulates preliminary recommendations for assessment of the cast-in anchor bolts in practice.