Authors: Hong Tao Zhang, Ganyun Pang, Rui Zhen Wang, Chengbin Liu
Abstract: In the production with thin slab casting a serious problem of insufficient grain
refinement and microstructural inhomogeneity has been found. In this paper attention has been paid to the austenite grain size changes in thin slab of a high strength Nb microalloyed steel under as-cast conditions and after first rolling pass. For comparison, the conventional thick slab was also investigated. It was found that although as-cast thin slab shows a smaller average austenite grain size than that of as cast thick slab; the latter after reheating shows a much finer average austenite grain size. The first rolling pass at high temperature and with heavy reduction causes rapid recrystallization that contributes to austenite grain refinement.
295
Authors: D.J. Chakrabarti, Claire L. Davis, Martin Strangwood
Abstract: Bimodal grain size distributions were found in continuously cast slab and thermomechanical controlled rolled (TMCR) samples of Nb-microalloyed steel. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed inhomogeneous distributions of Al- and Nb-containing precipitates, which were found to pin prior austenite grain boundaries during reheating. An effort has been made to establish parameters to quantify the extent of bimodality of reheated and rolled microstructures. Quantification of bimodality using peak grain size range, (PGSR) and peak height ratio, (PHR), is found to match closely with the visual observation of bimodality. Thermo-Calc software was used to predict the sequence of precipitation for different compositions and that could explain the formation of bimodality during reheating.
613
Authors: Ali Dehghan-Manshadi, Rian Dippenaar
Abstract: The dissolution of different sulphides, carbides, carbo-sulphides and nitrides during re-heating of hot rolled low carbon, low manganese, titanium added steel have been studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analysis. In addition, the chemical composition and size distribution of the different precipitates have been determined before and after reheating to analyze the modification of these precipitates in the course of the reheating cycle.
The TEM and EDS analyses showed the presence of a wide variety of simple and/or complex precipitates in as rolled samples. The reheating of these samples to temperatures as high as 1350 °C, caused dissolution of most particles, although titanium nitride (TiN) did not dissolve even after reheating. By decreasing the reheating temperature more and more precipitates remained un-dissolved, but some spherodization occurred at higher temperatures.
3182
Authors: Nenad Radović, Ankica Koprivica, Dragomir Glišić, Abdunnaser Fadel, Djordje Drobnjak
Abstract: The influence of vanadium and nitrogen on microstructure and mechanical properties of medium-carbon steels has been studied by means of metallography and mechanical testing. Vanadium addition to the low nitrogen steel suppresses the formation of ferrite-pearlite following the low reheating temperatures and microstructure consists of bainitic sheaves. Increasing nitrogen at the same vanadium level promotes the acicular ferrite formation. For high reheating temperatures, dominantly acicular ferrite structure in both the low nitrogen and the high nitrogen vanadium steels is obtained. The results suggest that vanadium in solid solution promotes the formation of bainite, whereas the effect of nitrogen is related to the precipitation of VN particles in austenite with high potency for intragranular nucleation of acicular ferrite and to the precipitation of V(C,N) particles in ferrite with high potency for precipitation strengthening. Addition of both vanadium and nitrogen considerably increases the strength level, while CVN20 impact energy increases on changing the microstructure from bainitic ferrite to the fine ferrite-pearlite and acicular ferrite.
3459
Authors: Andrey V. Chastukhin, Dmitry A. Ringinen, Grigory E. Khadeev, Leonid I. Efron
Abstract: The effects of slab reheat temperature and soaking time are studied to characterize austenite grain growth, microstructure homogeneity and dissolution of precipitates in linepipe X80 grade steel. It is shown that the uniformity of austenite microstructure strongly depends on the slab reheat temperature and soaking time. With increasing reheat temperature an abnormal growth of individual grains is observed that stems from gradual dissolution of microalloy carbonitrides. As the result, individual grain boundaries become unpinned and mobile thus "nucleating" secondary recrystallization. The highest reheat temperature at which the dissolution kinetics of precipitates is still slow enough to prevent the onset of secondary recrystallization within long soaking times is 1160°C. The as reheated austenite microstructure and the character of austenite grain size distribution are inherited throughout the entire roughing rolling sequence and even further downstream to the finishing rolling entry.
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