Evolution of precipitates, in particular cruciform and cuboid particles, during simulated direct charging of thin slab cast vanadium microalloyed steels

A study has been undertaken of four vanadium based steels which have been processed by a simulated direct charging route using processing parameters typical of thin slab casting, where the cast product has a thickness of 50 to 80mm ( in this study 50 mm) and is fed directly to a furnace to equalise the microstructure prior to rolling. In the direct charging process, cooling rates are faster, equalisation times shorter and the amount of deformation introduced during rolling less than in conventional practice. Samples in this study were quenched after casting, after equalisation, after 4th rolling pass and after coiling, to follow the evolution of microstructure. The mechanical and toughness properties and the microstructural features might be expected to differ from equivalent steels, which have undergone conventional processing. The four low carbon steels (~0.06wt%) which were studied contained 0.1wt%V (V-N), 0.1wt%V and 0.010wt%Ti (V-Ti), 0.1wt%V and 0.03wt%Nb (V-Nb), and 0.1wt%V, 0.03wt%Nb and 0.007wt%Ti (V-Nb-Ti). Steels V-N and V-Ti contained around 0.02wt% N, while the other two contained about 0.01wt%N. The as-cast steels were heated at three equalising temperatures of 1050C, 1100C or 1200C and held for 30-60 minutes prior to rolling. Optical microscopy and analytical electron microscopy, including parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS), were used to characterise the precipitates. In the as-cast condition, dendrites and plates were found. Cuboid particles were seen at this stage in Steel V-Ti, but they appeared only in the other steels after equalization. In addition, in the final product of all the steels, fine particles were seen, but it was only in the two titanium steels that cruciform precipitates were present. PEELS analysis showed that the dendrites, plates, cuboids, cruciforms and fine precipitates were essentially nitrides. The two Ti steels had better toughness than the other steels but inferior lower yield stress values. This was thought to be, in part, due to the formation of cruciform precipitates in austenite, thereby removing nitrogen and the microalloying elements which would have been expected to precipitate in ferrite as dispersion hardening particles

FERRITE GRAIN REFINEMENT IN SEAMLESS PIPES THROUGH INTRAGRANULAR NUCLEATION ON VN

Mill rolling process of seamless pipe was simulated with the aim of applying grain refinement through theformation of intragranular ferrite on VN precipitated inside austenitic grains, for production of as-hot rolledmicrostructures, which are currently attained only by in-line normalising. Tests were performed on V+N andV+N(Ti) steels using two types of schedules with long and short transfer/heating times prior to sizing between930-830°C. It was found that transfer/heating time between high temperature rolling and low temperaturesizing could be used for precipitation of VN in austenite which in turn can nucleate intragranular ferritegrains on cooling. To facilitate the precipitation process of VN a sub-micro-addition of Ti was used which alsohelps to restrain austenite grain growth during piercing and pipe forming. Subsequent V(C,N) precipitationof the remaining vanadium in the ferrite contributes precipitation strengthening. Hot rolling followed byintragranular ferrite formation in 0.1%V-0.015%N-0.005%Ti steel is able to develop a fine ferrite-pearlitemicrostructure with an average ferrite grain size of 7um

Lattice dynamics and correlated atomic motion from the atomic pair distribution function

The mean-square relative displacements (MSRD) of atomic pair motions in crystals are studied as a function of pair distance and temperature using the atomic pair distribution function (PDF). The effects of the lattice vibrations on the PDF peak widths are modelled using both a multi-parameter Born von-Karman (BvK) force model and a single-parameter Debye model. These results are compared to experimentally determined PDFs. We find that the near-neighbor atomic motions are strongly correlated, and that the extent of this correlation depends both on the interatomic interactions and crystal structure. These results suggest that proper account of the lattice vibrational effects on the PDF peak width is important in extracting information on static disorder in a disordered system such as an alloy. Good agreement is obtained between the BvK model calculations of PDF peak widths and the experimentally determined peak widths. The Debye model successfully explains the average, though not detailed, natures of the MSRD of atomic pair motion with just one parameter. Also the temperature dependence of the Debye model largely agrees with the BvK model predictions. Therefore, the Debye model provides a simple description of the effects of lattice vibrations on the PDF peak widths.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Relationship between solidification microstructure and hot cracking susceptibility for continuous casting of low-carbon and high-strength low-alloyed steels: A phase-field study

© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2013Hot cracking is one of the major defects in continuous casting of steels, frequently limiting the productivity. To understand the factors leading to this defect, microstructure formation is simulated for a low-carbon and two high-strength low-alloyed steels. 2D simulation of the initial stage of solidification is performed in a moving slice of the slab using proprietary multiphase-field software and taking into account all elements which are expected to have a relevant effect on the mechanical properties and structure formation during solidification. To account for the correct thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the multicomponent alloy grades, the simulation software is online coupled to commercial thermodynamic and mobility databases. A moving-frame boundary condition allows traveling through the entire solidification history starting from the slab surface, and tracking the morphology changes during growth of the shell. From the simulation results, significant microstructure differences between the steel grades are quantitatively evaluated and correlated with their hot cracking behavior according to the Rappaz-Drezet-Gremaud (RDG) hot cracking criterion. The possible role of the microalloying elements in hot cracking, in particular of traces of Ti, is analyzed. With the assumption that TiN precipitates trigger coalescence of the primary dendrites, quantitative evaluation of the critical strain rates leads to a full agreement with the observed hot cracking behavior. © 2013 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International

On the evaluation of the Bauschinger effect in an austenitic stainless steel—The role of multiscale residual stresses

In this work, a physically based self-consistent model is developed and employed to examine the microscopic lattice response of pre-strained Type 316H polycrystalline austenitic stainless steel subjected to uniaxial tensile and compressive loading. The model is also used to explain the Bauschinger effect observed at the macroscopic length-scale. Formulated in a crystal based plasticity framework, the model incorporates detailed strengthening effects associated with different microstructural elements such as forest dislocation junctions, solute atoms and precipitates on individual crystallographic slip planes of each individual grain within the polycrystal. The elastoplastic response of the bulk polycrystal is obtained by homogenizing the response of all the constituent grains using a self-consistent approach. Micro-plasticity mechanisms and how these influence the Bauschinger effect are illustrated in terms of the role of residual stresses at different length-scales. Overall, predictions are in good agreement with experimental data of the Bauschinger effect and the corresponding meso-scale lattice response of the material, with the latter measured by neutron diffraction. The results demonstrate that transient softening of the material is related to residual stresses at different length scales. In addition, the (Type III) residual stress at the micro-scale slip system level extends the strain range over which the tensile and compressive reloading curves of the pre-strained material merge