Influence of TiN Inclusions and Segregation on the Delayed Cracking in NM450 Wear-Resistant Steel

High-strength, wear-resistant steel often suffers from delayed cracking after flame cutting. Delayed cracking can lead to extremely harmful sudden brittle fracture; therefore, it is necessary to study the formation of delayed cracking in high-strength steel. This work investigated the influence of TiN inclusions and segregation on the delayed cracking in NM450 wear-resistant steel by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and electron backscattered diffractometer methods. The results indicated that the delayed cracks originated from the segregation zones (SZs) containing multiple high-hardness segregation bands. The tensile strength of the SZ specimens was higher than that of non-segregation zone (NSZ) specimens, while the total elongation and reduction of area of the SZ specimens were relatively lower compared with the NSZ specimens. Therefore, the delayed cracking on the flame cutting surface of the NM450 steel plate was attributed to the existence of SZs that contain a high density of dislocations and considerable micro-sized TiN inclusions.

Austenite Grain Growth Analysis in a Welded Joint of High-Strength Martensitic Abrasion-Resistant Steel Hardox 450

The paper presents the results of tests of a welded joint of Hardox 450 steel, belonging to the group of weldable high-strength boron steels with increased resistance to abrasive wear. As a result of the conducted research, apart from the basic structural indicators, an attempt was made to determine the correlation between the grain size of the prior austenite in the characteristic weld zones and its basic mechanical properties, such as yield point, tensile strength, percentage elongation after fracture, reduction of area, and impact strength. The scope of research quoted above was carried out for a welded joint of the considered steel at delivery state (directly after welding), in the normalising annealed state, as well as in water-quenched state, using different austenitisation temperatures in the range of 900–1200 °C. The results obtained showed a large influence of the parameters of the applied thermal heat treatment on the selected structural and mechanical properties of the welded joint.

Study on High-Temperature Mechanical Properties of Fe–Mn–C–Al TWIP/TRIP Steel

In this study, high-temperature tensile tests were carried out on a Gleeble-3500 thermal simulator under a strain rate of ε = 1 × 10−3 s−1 in the temperature range of 600–1310 °C. The hot deformation process of Fe–15.3Mn–0.58C–2.3Al TWIP/TRIP at different temperatures was studied. In the whole tested temperature range, the reduction of area ranged from 47.3 to 89.4% and reached the maximum value of 89.4% at 1275 °C. Assuming that 60% reduction of area is relative ductility trough, the high-temperature ductility trough was from 1275 °C to the melting point temperature, the medium-temperature ductility trough was 1000–1250 °C, and the low-temperature ductility trough was around 600 °C. The phase transformation process of the steel was analyzed by Thermo-Calc thermodynamics software. It was found that ferrite transformation occurred at 646 °C, and the austenite was softened by a small amount of ferrite, resulting in the reduction of thermoplastic and formation of the low-temperature ductility trough. However, the small difference in thermoplasticity in the low-temperature ductility trough was attributed to the small amount of ferrite and the low transformation temperature of ferrite. The tensile fracture at different temperatures was characterized by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that there were Al2O3, AlN, MnO, and MnS(Se) impurities in the fracture. The abnormal points of thermoplasticity showed that the inclusions had a significant effect on the high-temperature mechanical properties. The results of EBSD local orientation difference analysis showed that the temperature range with good plasticity was around 1275 °C. Under large deformation extent, the phase difference in the internal position of the grain was larger than that in the grain boundary. The defect density in the grain was large, and the high dislocation density was the main deformation mechanism in the high-temperature tensile process.

Effect of Annealing Process on Microstructure and Tensile Properties of TC16 Titanium Alloy after Rapid Heat Treatment

TC16 titanium alloy is a martensite α+β two-phase high strength titanium alloy, which can improve its structure and enhance properties through heat treatment. Effect of annealing process on microstructure and tensile properties of TC16 titanium alloy was investigated using optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and universe tensile test machine. The results show that when annealed at 720°C for 4h then furnace cooling to ambient temperature, the tensile strength of the TC16 alloy reaches nearly 900MPa,the elongation reaches 19.6% and the reduction of area reaches 65%, which present a good comprehensive performance.

High Temperature Plasticity of TP347H Stainless Steel Welded Joint Heat Affected Zone

Simulated Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) samples of TP347H stainless steel welded joint with 800-1380°C peak temperature thermal cycles were produced using Gleeble 3180 thermal mechanical simulator. 600°C constant speed tensile tests for simulated HAZ samples were carried out, and the precipitates of the simulated samples were analyzed by EDAX. The results show that the lowest Reduction of Area (RoA) was around 53% - 56% in 900-1150°C, which was about 15% lower than the maximum RoA in 800-1380°C. The reasons for decrease of HAZ high temperature plasticity were related to the precipitation of NbC. The fine NbC precipitated in the crystal and grain boundary enhanced strength of grain at high temperature, which resulted plastic deformation or slip at high temperature were mainly concentrated in the grain boundary, and high temperature plasticity of HAZ were decreased.

Measurement of Continuous Cooling Transformation Curve and High Temperature Mechanical Properties for 12Mn Steel

The dilatometer curves of continuous cooling transformation of 12Mn steel were measured with Formastor-FⅡthermal mechanical simulator．The steel's undercooled austenite phase continuous cooling transformation curves ( CCT curves) were established by means of the dilatometer method and the metallographic-hardness measurement method． The effect of cooling rate on microstructure and hardness of the steel was studied． CCT curve of test steel was simulated by JMatPro. The results show that the Ac1 and Ac3 of the experimental steel are 692 ℃ and 855 ℃ ; the microstructure obtained is made of ferrite，pearlite and bainite．The ferrite transformation and pearlite transformation occur at a slower cooling rate，in which the ferrite is dominant. When the cooling rate is greater than 4.25 ℃ / s bainite transformation happens．As the cooling rate increases，microstructure or grains become finer．The hardness of the tested steel with increasing cooling rate shows a trend of first fast increase and soon decrease．The simulation results are consistent with the measured CCT law. The high temperature mechanical properties of 12mn steel round billet were tested by gleeble-1500d thermal / mechanical simulator. The tensile strength, reduction of area and stress-strain curves of the billet were obtained in the range of 600-1300 ℃.

Correlation between Microstructures and Ductility Parameters of Cold Drawn Hyper-Eutectoid Steel Wires with Different Drawing Strains and Post-Deformation Annealing Conditions

The relationship between microstructures and ductility parameters, including reduction of area, elongation to failure, occurrence of delamination, and number of turns to failure in torsion, in hypereutectoid pearlitic steel wires was investigated. The transformed steel wires at 620 °C were successively dry-drawn to drawing strains from 0.40 to 2.38. To examine the effects of hot-dip galvanizing conditions, post-deformation annealing was performed on cold drawn steel wires (ε = 0.99, 1.59, and 2.38) with a different heating time of 30–3600 s at 500 °C in a salt bath. In cold drawn wires, elongation to failure dropped due to the formation of dislocation substructures, decreased slowly due to the increase of dislocation density, and saturated with drawing strain. During annealing, elongation to failure increased due to recovery, and saturated with annealing time. The variation of elongation to failure in cold drawn and annealed steel wires would depend on the distribution of dislocations in lamellar ferrite. The orientation of lamellar cementite and the shape of cementite particles would become an effective factor controlling number of turns to failure in torsion of cold drawn and annealed steel wires. The orientation and shape of lamellar cementite would become microstructural features controlling reduction of area of cold drawn and annealed steel wires. The density of dislocations contributed to reduction of area to some extent.

Improvement in Mechanical Performance of Biomaterial Ti Alloy by Controlling Volume Fraction of Martensite Phase

Recently, biomaterial α + β type Ti alloys with relatively low Young’s modulus and high specific strength have been widely used all over the world. Martensite (M) phase in α + β type Ti alloy has been reported to improve the toughness and ductility, therefore, there is high possibility of improvement in the mechanical properties easily by controlling the volume fraction of M phase. In this study, the change in mechanical properties of α + β type Ti-6Al-7Nb (Ti67) with various volume fractions of M phase were systematically investigated through the various heat treatments and thermo-mechanical treatments. Microstructures of Ti67 subjected to ST at 1173 K to 1273 K below the temperature of β transus were composed of martensite and primary α phases. The volume fraction of M phase increased with an increase in ST temperature. Tensile strength increased simply with an increase in the volume fraction of M phase, while the elongation, reduction of area and Young’s modulus showed a reverse trend. Fatigue limit of Ti67 subjected to ST at 1243K showed the highest value of 880 MPa.

Effect of Extrusion Temperature and Thermal Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ti-1300 Alloy Tube

Effects of extrusion temperature and heat treatment process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-1300 titanium alloy tube billets were studied by tensile testing and microstructure observation, and the relationship among the thermal processing technique and microscopic structure and mechanical properties of the billets were also investigated. The results showed that the transverse structure of Ti-1300 alloy after extrusion in the a+b two-phase region was uniform and fine. And the longitudinal structure could be seen that the extrusion processing streamline was broken uniformly. Ti-1300 alloy extruded at a+b two-phase has a good match of the strength and ductility, and the ductility of two-phase extrusion is obviously better than that of β single-phase extrusion, especially for the reduction of area.

Holding Time Influence on the Hot Ductility Behavior of a Continuously Cast Low Alloy Steel

Cracking during the continuous casting process is undesirable and continuous work is being carried out to find further improvements and understand the mechanisms that lead to failure. Investigations on the hot ductility behavior of a continuously cast low alloyed steel using different holding times before straining were done in the present work. Samples were heated to melting temperature in a vacuum atmosphere and then cooled to one of the three test temperatures chosen: 750, 850, and 900 °C. When the desired temperature was reached, the sample was isothermally held for either 10, 90, 300, or 3600 s before the tensile test started, with a strain rate of 10−3 s−1. The reduction of area was measured, SEM images of the fractured surfaces were taken plus LOM images for the analysis of the microstructure. The results show that there was no significant change in the ductility at any of the temperatures until 300 s, with a change in behavior at 3600 s. This was further confirmed with the images and precipitation kinetics simulations. The results are described and compared.