Toughness improvement by Cu addition in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steels

The effect of microstructure and Cu addition in a simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of a high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel subjected to 100?kJ?cm^?1 heat input welding was studied. It has been observed that the primary microstructure in Cu-free HSLA steels is dominated by bainite, whereas, in Cu-bearing HSLA steels, the predominant microstructure is acicular ferrite. The acicular ferrite nucleated at intragranular complex inclusions consisting of Al and Ti oxides, covered with layer of MnS and CuS. The presence of high intensity of acicular ferrite and hard impingements between acicular ferrite laths or plates has contributed to the fine-grained and interlocked microstructure. The enhanced toughness in CGHAZ of Cu-bearing HSLA steel is attributed to the fine-grained interlocked microstructure of acicular ferrite.     

In-situ observation of grain refinement in the simulated heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steel by Zr-Ti combined deoxidation

The effect of Zr-Ti combined deoxidation on the grain refinement in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of a high-strength low-alloy steel was investigated by means of analytical characterization techniques such as in-situ microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron backscattered diffraction analysis. Owing to the Zr-Ti combined deoxidation, a large amount of fine Zr-Ti oxide particles were formed in the steel and retarded the austenite grain growth during simulated welding thermal cycle. The austenite grains were small and uniform. The Mn can diffuse spontaneously from austenite to Zr-Ti oxide inclusion and MnS precipitated on ZrO₂, which can form Mn depleted zone in the vicinity of inclusion. The acicular ferrite grains nucleated on intragranular Zr-Ti oxide inclusions in austenite grains grew in different directions and effectively divided the austenite grain into several finer and separate regions at intermediate temperature. The crystallographic grain size became small in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of Zr-Ti-killed steel due to the effective pinning effect by Zr-Ti oxide particles and acicular ferrite formation.     

Grain growth simulation with the second phase particle pinning for heat-affected zone of microalloyed steel welds

The second phase particle dispersed in microaUoyed steel has different effects on grain growth depending on their size and volume fraction of the second phase particles which will change during welding thermal cycles.The particle coarsening and dissolution kinetics model was analyzed for continuous heating and cooling.In addition,based on experimental data,the coupled equation of grain growth was established by introdacing limited size of grain growth with the consideration of the second phase particles pinning effects.Using Monte Carlo method based on experimental data model,the grain growth simulation for heat-affected zone of microalloyed steel welds was achieved.The calculating results were well in agreement with that of experiments.     

X70微合金管线钢组织中针状铁素体细化机制的研究

以微合金管线钢XTO为研究对象,在Gleeble 1500热模拟机上,进行了不同形变量和冷却速度对合金相变行为及组织细化影响的研究。实验结果表明,形变量和冷却速度的增加,有助于针状铁素体的形成及细化。管线钢中针状铁素体组织典型的形貌为非常微细的亚结构、高位错密度以及部分细板条铁素体,基体上弥散分布着M／A岛和渗碳体。同时可以观察到在铁素体晶粒边界和铁素体晶粒内部有相的析出。可见,针状铁素体组织细化的机制主要有：形变诱导铁素体、铁素体的动态再结晶和相的析出抑制晶粒长大。     

In situ observation and electron backscattered diffraction analysis of granular bainite in simulated heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steel

In this study, the formation of granular bainite (GB) which may form in the heat-affected zone of double-sided double arc welding joint was in situ observed. The crystallographic characteristics of GB were also compared with those of microstructure mainly comprising lath bainite (LB). The results show that bainite packets exist at the initial stage of GB transformation and can be distinguished by the distribution of retained austenite and martensite–austenite constituents. The bainite blocks of GB are larger than those of LB which makes both the length and fraction of high-angle grain boundaries in GB less than those of LB which partly lead to the brittleness of granular bainite.     

Zr对高强度钢热影响区第二相粒子及韧性影响

研究了0.012 4%锆对低合金高强度钢焊接热影响区粗晶区第二相粒子和冲击韧性的影响.结果表明,模拟20 kJ/cm焊接线能量下无锆钢焊接热影响区粗晶区中第二相粒子为Al-Ti复合氧化物和（Ti,Nb） N析出物.而含锆钢则是Zr-Al-Ti复合氧化物及（Al,Ti,Nb） N和（Ti,Nb） N析出物.同时,定量数据分析表明含锆钢中氧化物和氮化物粒子密度更高且尺寸更加细小.这些高密度的细小的第二相粒子在焊接过程中能有效钉扎晶界移动,抑制奥氏体晶粒粗化,在焊接热影响区粗晶区中得到尺寸相对细小均匀的原奥氏体晶粒,使得含锆钢焊接热影响区粗晶区呈现韧性断裂和极好的低温冲击韧性.     

On the mechanism of grain refinement in Al-Zr-Ti alloys

In high-strength aluminum alloys Ti and Zr are commonly present as alloying elements, mostly as anti-recrystallization agents. Grain refinement during solidification is also achieved using Ti but in the form of titanium borides. Our previous investigations showed that a combined addition of Zr and Ti enables considerable grain refinement in aluminum alloys upon cavitation treatment, much stronger than that of Zr alone. The role of titanium and ultrasonic processing remained unclear. In this paper we propose a mechanism of the grain refinement that includes structural changes in solidification sites, their refinement and initiation of heterogeneous nucleation at lower undercooling.     

Influence of deformation temperature on the ferrite grain refinement in a low carbon Nb–Ti microalloyed steel

Grain refinement is one of the effective methods to develop new generation low carbon microalloyed steels possessing excellent combination of mechanical properties. In the present work, the microstructural evolution and ferrite grain refinement at various deformation temperatures were investigated using single pass isothermal hot compression experiments for a low carbon Nb–Ti microalloyed steel. The physical processes that occurred during deformation were discussed by observing the optical microstructure and analyzing the stress–strain responses. The results show that there is a close relation between the microstructural evolution and true stress–true strain responses during the deformation. Microstructural observation indicates that very fine ferrite grains of about 1.8–3 μm are obtained by deformation at 830–845 °C, about Ar₃ ± 10 °C. The obtained stress–strain curves suggest the occurrence of strain-induced dynamic transformation (SIDT) of γ to at this deformation temperature range.     

Influence of the secondary welding thermal cycle on the microstructure and property of coarse grain heat-affected zone in an X100 pipeline steel

The influence of the secondary thermal cycle on the microstructure of coarse grain heat-affected zone in an X100 pipeline steel was investigated by means of a thermal simulation technique and microscopic analysis method. The property of coarse grain heat-affected zone was characterized by Charpy V-Notch impact properties testing. The results indicated that the experimental steel exhibited local brittleness of intercritically reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone when the peak temperature of secondary thermal cycle was in the range of two phases region (α and γ). There were two main reasons for the local brittleness. The first was that the microstructures of intercritically reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone were not fined although partial grain recrystallization occurred. The second was that M-A islands, which had the higher content, larger size and higher hardness, existed in intercritically reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone.     

Role of strain path change in grain refinement by severe plastic deformation: A case study of equal channel angular extrusion

Equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) provides exciting opportunities to explore the role of strain path change (SPC) in grain refinement by severe plastic deformation (SPD). In this study, crystal plasticity simulations were carried out using a viscoplastic self-consistent model for a face-centered cubic model material processed via an extended range of processing routes and with two die angles (90° and 120°). Each processing route was defined according to the interpass billet rotation angle (χ), which varied from 0° to 180° at intervals of 15°. Based on a statistical analysis of the simulated slip activities, it is proposed that differences in grain refinement among these cases can be best correlated to key differences in the slip activities, i.e. the significance of newly activated slip systems at pass-to-pass transitions corresponding to macroscopic SPCs. Accordingly, grain refinement is anticipated to be most efficient for routes with χ near 75° for the 90° die or 0–45° for the 120° die, and least efficient with χ near 180° for both dies. The relative grain refinement efficiencies thus predicted are in good overall agreement with those indicated by the generation of high-angle boundaries and reduction of grain size in pure copper measured by electron back-scatter diffraction. It is suggested that the effect of SPC and the resulting characteristic slip activities should be incorporated in understanding the effectiveness of grain refinement and unpinning the underlying grain subdivision mechanisms in SPD with different SPCs.     

外焊温度对X80钢二次热循环后热影响区粗晶区组织与力学性能的影响

通过热模拟技术、V型缺口冲击试验、硬度实验与显微分析方法研究了外焊温度对二次热循环X80管线钢粗晶热影响区组织与性能的影响规律。结果表明:当外焊热循环峰值温度在(α+γ)两相区范围时,X80管线钢的韧性最低,明显低于一次加热粗晶区;硬度最大,明显高于一次加热粗晶区,金相组织中出现大量的粗大、富碳的M-A组元,证明内焊亚临界粗晶区出现明显脆化和硬化现象。     

铝对大线能量焊接条件下HSLAA焊接热影响区粗晶区M-A组元及冲击韧性的影响

采用热模拟试验方法分析了HSLA在100 kJ/cm大线能量条件下添加不同铝元素(0.027％,0.038％,0.070％)对焊接热影响区粗晶区的M-A组元内部组织、含量的影响.通过透射电镜分析M-A组元的内部组织转变,发现铝元素可以促进M-A组元内部残余奥氏体的稳定性,减少M-A组元中马氏体的含量.M-A组元统计和低温冲击试验结果表明,添加铝元素能够有效减少焊接热影响区粗晶区中M-A组元的含量,含有较高铝元素的试样冲击吸收功明显提升且较为稳定.     

An insight into the role of the grain boundary in plastic deformation by means of a bicrystalline pillar compression test and atomistic simulation

A combination of experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations is used to investigate the interaction of dislocations with a selected grain boundary (GB) in bicrystalline pillars (BCPs) with component crystals oriented for single slip and multiple slip. As a reference, single-crystalline pillars with the same orientations are also tested and compared with the BCPs. Orientations identical to the experiments are used to generate models in MD simulations. Further, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements on the cross-section of the pillars are performed to investigate the crystal lattice rotation in correlation with the excess dislocation density. A clear change in mechanical behavior of the BCP was observed when the size of the component crystals reduced below 1 μm. The EBSD analyses of these small BCPs showed an increase in the misorientation in the vicinity of the GB. MD simulation provided atomistic insights into the dislocation nucleation process and the BCPs’ interaction with the GB. On the basis of these observations, it is concluded that in BCPs smaller than 1 μm the dislocation–GB interaction plays a more crucial role than the dislocation–dislocation interaction.