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1/2 thick.
The softening curves as function of the temperature
920 1/4 thick. of pre-deformation are illustrated in figure 3 for the
1/8 thick.
1/16 thick. different Nb content.
880
IPT = 5.4 s IPT = 3.3 s IPT = 2.1 s IPT = 1.4 s IPT = 1.0 s
STATIC RECRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS
840 1
370 375 380 385
Strain=0.5
Time since exit of furnace (s) 1/s
0.8
IPT=5 s
Fig.1. Thermal profile through the strip thickness
Relative softening X
simulated for an industrial finishing train 0.6
0
17
34
One can assume that static recrystallization will become 53
0.4
more and more difficult downwards in the train, and only 83
0
120
17 950°C necessitates a Nb level of more than 0.034 percent
34
53
to ensure complete strain accumulation while static re-
80
83 crystallization is complete for C-Mn steel. At 1000°C,
1/s only the 0.083%Nb steel is able to cumulate the defor-
40
mation whereas for temperatures higher than 1050°C,
static recrystallization seems unavoidable for all the steels
0
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 tested in the work.
Strain
120 0 Nb
17 Nb content.
34 Nb
80 83 Nb TORSION TEST
1/s 900 °C - IPT=10s
200
40
1/s
0 160
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
Stress (MPa)
Strain 120
0 Nb
Fig.4 Torsion flow curves for different Nb steels 17 Nb
83 Nb
80
tested at 950°C and a strain rate of 1/s (Nb
content in 10-3 wt.%)
40
All the steels work harden to a maximum at the peak
strain εp and then soften to eventually reach a plateau with 0
an approximatively constant flow stress. This softening is 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
0
17
ture. Such an amount of Nb thus prevents static and
1.6
34 dynamic recrystallization by solid solution and probably
83
also by strain-induced precipitation of Nb that can take
1.2 place during the 10s delay for this high alloying content.
An intermediate situation is given by the 0.017%Nb steel
for which the overall stress level for the first two passes is
0.8
800 850 900 950 1000 1050
the same than for the 0.083%Nb case, but followed by a
Temperature (°C) decrease of the mean stress for the subsequent deforma-
Fig.5 Dependence of the peak strain on the tempe- tion steps. After the first pass, the holding period is too
rature for different Nb content (in 10 -3 wt.%) short for static recrystallization in agreement with the
compression test (Fig.3) of the 0.017% Nb steel.
The strains corresponding to the peak stress are reported
in figure 5 as function of the temperature of deformation.
Despite the decrease of the peak strain with the tempe-
rature, a lower bound of strain of 0.8 has to be obtained to
observe dynamic softening in any steel under 1000°C.
The retarding sensitivity to Nb is pronounced at low
T O R S IO N T E S T
9 0 0 °C - 1 /s
200
160
T8/5 = 1 5 s
CR = 2 0 °C/s
S tress (M P a)
120
0 Nb
1 7 Nb
8 3 Nb
80
40
20 µm
0
0 .0 0 1 .0 0 2 .0 0 3 .0 0 4 .0 0
S train
Fig.7 Influence of the Nb content after straining at 900°C and on the as-cooled microstructure
(Marshall etchant)
3.3. Influence of the rolling parameters on the However, no great differences are observed for the
microstructure lower temperatures at 850°C and 900°C. For the
interpretation of the influence of the temperature of
The effect of Nb content on the grain refinement is deformation, care must be taken over the time that the
displayed in figure 7 in which the flow curves at 900°C austenitic microstructure spend at high temperature during
are presented with the corresponding ferrite micro- cooling down to 20°C. As a matter of fact, some
structure after cooling down to room temperature at metadynamic recrystallization is expected to take place at
20°C/s. The sensitivity of ferrite grain size to the Nb the higher temperatures after complete dynamic
content is already marked for low Nb level such as recrystallization. Indeed, the kinetics of metadynamic
0.017%. While complete dynamic recrystallization is recrystallization is known to be faster than for static
noticed for the C-Mn and 0.017% Nb steels, the finest recrystallization, and this latter is already active after 5s
grain size of around 2-3µm is obtained in the case of the above 900°C for the 0.017% Nb steel.
0.083%Nb steel which does not recrystallize completely
after a strain of 3.
8 5 0 °C
9 0 0 °C
1 60 9 5 0 °C
1 0 0 0 °C
S tress (M P a)
1 20 T8/5 = 1 5 s
CR = 2 0 °C/s
80
40
20 µm
0
0 .0 0 1 .0 0 2 .0 0 3 .0 0 4 .0 0
S train
Fig.8. Temperature effect on the dynamic softening of the 0.017% Nb steel and on the resulting
microstructure after cooling down to room temperature (Marshall etchant)
Consequently, some metadynamic softening should presents the higher level of Nb supersaturation. This steel
appear for deformation above 950°C where sufficient time is able to pancake easily through copious strain-induced
(a few seconds) is spent between deformation and precipitation which should occur during straining at
transformation with a cooling rate of 20°C/s. 900°C. An interpass time of 0s corresponds to a conti-
nuous deformation and leads to a nearly complete dyna-
The evolution of ferrite microstructure with the mic recrystallization after a strain of 3. The corresponding
amount of continuous deformation at 900°C is illustrated grain size of ferrite is very fine (2-3µm). For all the other
in figure 9 in the case of 0.083% Nb. By straining up the values of the interpass time, the mechanical behaviour is
austenite, the as-cooled microstructure transforms characteristic of full pancaking of the austenitic micro-
gradually from a pure bainitic state to a polygonal ferrite. structures, even for interpass time as low as 0.6s.
The additional strain leads to the nucleation of small However, the ferrite grain size after austenite pancaking
grains of ferrite along the grain boundary of parent increases from 2-3 µm for an interpass time of 0.6s
austenite, and the volume fraction of these fine grains towards a rougher value around 6-7 µm in the case of 10s
increases with prior deformation. A mixed ferrite-bainite interpass time. This experimental fact does not match the
microstructure is observed up to a strain of 3 where fine interpretation of other searchers(6,7) which identify a clear
grained ferrite prevails throughout the sample. From a relationship between the fine ferrite and the occurrence of
practical point of view, the above results confirm that a dynamic recrystallization of austenite prior to its
sufficient amount of strain has to be cumulated within the transformation. Some complementary comments on the
finishing train in order to enable the formation of ferrite fine grained ferrite formation will be presented later in
with a fine equiaxed grain size, and this necessitates an the discussion part of this paper.
entry temperature lower than Tnr.
1 /s
1 60
T8/5 = 1 5 s
CR = 2 0 °C/s
S tress (M P a)
1 20
80
40
20 µm
0
0 .0 0 1 .0 0 2 .0 0 3 .0 0 4 .0 0
S train
Fig.9. Microstructural evolution of the as-cooled 0.083% Nb steel as function of the amount of
strain applied at 900°C (Marshall echant)
The etching of the metallographic samples with Lepera 3.4. Optimized chemistry and rolling schedule
etchant reveals a fine distribution of small white islets
which correspond either to martensite or to austenite. As From the previous results, it appears that the
a matter of fact, X-ray diffraction has put in evidence the formation of a fine grained dual phase steel implies a
presence of some retained austenite at room temperature cumulative deformation of austenite above a strain value
which amounts to 4.3% volume fraction. The shift of the around 2 (see fig.9) which corresponds to a minimum
(220) austenite peak allows the determination of the thickness reduction of 85%. On the other hand, the strain
carbon concentration in the retained austenite with the accumulation necessitates the absence of any static
help of the extrapolation method of the austenite lattice recrystallization within the finishing grain. To avoid static
parameter. By means of the Ridley's expression(16) for the recrystallization of steels, the rolling temperature can be
austenite lattice parameter a as a function of the carbon decreased below 850°C (Nb free steel in fig.3) but this is
concentration C, accompanied by an important rise of the rolling forces and
powers. To increase the temperature at the entry of the
a (Å) = 3.573 + 0.033 wt.%C finishing grain, the kinetics of static recrystallization can
be slowed down by means of Nb addition through its
a carbon content around 0.9 wt.% is estimated for the retarding effect by solute drag. This temperature increase
retained austenite. The micrographs also show that a does not affect too much the ferrite grain refinement if it
refinement of the ferrite grain size leads to a more is limited to 950°C (see fig.8) to avoid any post softening
widespread distribution of smaller martensite-austenite during a subsequent cooling. A minimum of 0.030 wt.%
islets. This refining effect should be beneficial for the of Nb has to be added to steels in order to reach an entry
mechanical properties, especially for what concerns temperature of 950°C (fig.3) and below which static
ductility and toughness. recrystallization is prevented. Furthermore, Nb addition
favours a fine grain size (fig.7), even at a low level.
1 20 IP T =0 s
IP T =0 .6 s
IP T =2 s
IP T =1 0 s
80
40
30 µm
0
0 .0 0 0 .5 0 1 .0 0 1 .5 0 2 .0 0 2 .5 0 3 .0 0 3 .5 0 4 .0 0
S train
Fig.10 Effect of interpass time on pancaking and microstructure of the 0.083%Nb steel cooled to
room temperature (Lepera etchant)
Taking into account the temperature loss which takes to enable complete ferrite transformation and a good
place throughout an industrial finishing train (fig.1), it is carbon enrichment of residual austenite, but also not to
necessary to extend the temperature range between Tnr low to prevent the austenite transformation into bainite or
and Ar3 in order to avoid phase transformation within the pearlite.
train. A temperature loss around 100°C is commonly ob-
served on the lines for a strip of 3mm thickness, which The nature and hardness of the second phase issued
leads to a maximum Ar3 value around 800°C. This can be from the transformation of enriched austenite are defined
achieved by Mn addition which is also beneficial by its by the coiling temperature. To produce a ferrite-
solid solution strengthening of ferrite. According to the martensite microstructure, the coiling temperature must be
Ouchi formula(17) of Ar3 temperature for strain-hardened below the martensite start (Ms) temperature. The previous
austenite, an Ar3 of 800°C requires a minimum Mn evaluation of 0.9 wt.%C in the retained austenite allows
addition of 1.4 wt.% on a basis of 0.07 wt.% of C. This C to estimate an Ms temperature around 170°C according
content should provide sufficient volume fraction of finely Kunitake(18). It is therefore advised here to continuously
dispersed second phase particles in order to ensure cool the strips down to room temperature to ensure
performant mechanical properties. sufficient transformation of residual austenite into
martensite. Some retained austenite is however
During the continuous cooling at a cooling rate of unavoidable but it can be beneficial for the mechanical
20°C/s, strain-hardened austenite transforms into a fine properties through the Transformation Induced Plasticity
grained ferrite (fig.10) which rejects its carbon into the (TRIP effect) during the tensile test at room temperature.
residual austenite. The cooling rate must not be too high
T E N S IL E T E S T
800
YS = 4 5 0 MP a
T S = 7 5 3 MP a
A 50 = 2 3 %
600
S tre s s (M P a )
400
200
10 µm
0
0 .0 0 5 .0 0 1 0 .0 0 1 5 .0 0 2 0 .0 0 2 5 .0 0
S tra in (%)
Fig.11 Tensile stress-strain curve and optical micrograph of the laboratory multiphase steel hot-
rolled according the optimized schedule (Lepera etchant)
100
The market benefit of fine grained ferrite can also be
observed by the measurement of the low temperature
0
toughness (figure 12). 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
N Cycles
Charpy test - subsize (5mm) Fig.13. Stress response curves at low cycle fatigue test
on the laboratory multiphase steel
200
150
failure demonstrates the relative stability of this steel.
100
4. DISCUSSION
50