Heat Transfer Tests of a Steel Cylinder Barrel with Aluminum Fins with Improved Bonding Between Steel Barrel and Aluminum Base
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ENGINE CYLINDERS-RANGER↗
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An Electron and X-ray Diffraction Investigation of Surface Changes on Nitrided-steel Piston Rings During Engine Operation in Nitrided-steel Cylinders Barrels
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PROTECTIVE COATINGS-PISTON RINGS↗
Increase of the Specific Load Under Tension, Compression, and Buckling of Welded Steel Tubes in Airplane Construction by Suitable Treatment of Structural Steel and by Proper Design
The new construction method indicated, which makes possible a considerably better material utilization and hence a saving in weight, has been tested in a number of Focke-Wulf types also in series production and has fully justified itself.
Muller, J↗
Diffusion Couple Approach to Modification of 316 Stainless Steel and HT9 Ferritic-Martensitic Steel with Refractory Elements.
Abstract not provided.
McGinnis, A. L.↗
Effect of oil temperature on tribological behavior of a lubricated steel steel contact
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Cai, Zhen-bing↗
Effective Exploration of New 760°C-Capability Steels for Coal Energy
Cost effective and high performance alloys that are capable of operating at 760 °C or higher for extended periods of time under a very aggressive environment are critically required for the design and development of advanced ultrasupercritical (AUSC) boilers and steam turbines. Finely dispersed Laves phase precipitates have been shown by Takeyama and co-workers to be a viable strengthening mechanism in high temperature austenitic steels. There is currently no straightforward theory that can predict what other intermetallic phases can serve as potent precipitation-strengthening phases for steels; thus we employed a highly effective dual-anneal diffusion multiple (DADM) approach to screen for viable strengthening precipitates over a wide range of compositions. From the Fe-Co-Cr-Ni-Mo DADMs, the Fe-Cr-Mo based Chi phase was identified as a new strengthening phase for high temperature ferritic steels; and from the Fe-Mn-Cr-Nb-Ni-Mo-FeAl DADMs, the Laves phase was identified as a viable strengthening precipitate in Fe-Mn and Fe-Ni based austenitic steels. After identification of viable strengthening phases from the DADMs that covered compositions in the basic ternary and quaternary systems, we employed computation thermodynamics to perform multicomponent alloy design and optimization. For the new the Chi-phase strengthened steels, we performed thermodynamic calculations to vary the volume fraction of the Chi phase and introduced Nb and carbon to promote the formation of stable carbides for grain size control during solution heat treatment. For the Fe-Ni-Mn based austenitic steels, we performed extensive parametric optimization of compositions in order to reduce the expensive Ni content, add Cr and Al for oxidation resistance, and balance the alloying contents (Ni, Mn, Cr, Al, Mo) to suppress the ferritic phase and promote the austenitic matrix phase. Four steels (two ferritic + two austenitic) were designed and tested. The two Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels exhibited excellent oxidation resistance and good creep-rupture strength at moderate temperatures, considering their ferritic matrix that usually results in lower creep resistance than austenitic steels. These steels showed brittleness and sample-to-sample variability in ductility. The low ductility might be due to the macro segregation during solidification or the significant grain growth during the solution heat treatments. We believe there is no inherent brittleness based on the chemistry of the steels. The creep-rupture performance of the steels is comparable to the 9Cr steels. Due to their ferritic matrix, the new Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels may not be suited for the 760 °C AUSC applications, but they are very good candidates for intermediate temperature applications due to their outstanding oxidation resistance and high strength. Further study is required to find the source of low and highly variable ductility. We believe the compositions of the Chi-phase strengthened steels are not inherently brittle. The Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels may also be excellent candidates for intermediate-temperature and room-temperature cast stainless steels, thus we highly recommend further investigations. The two Mn-containing austenitic steels based on the Laves phase showed good ductility, excellent oxidation resistance (slightly inferior to the two ferritic steels) at high temperatures and moderate creep strength. The creep-strength of the two austenitic steels based on the Larson-Miller parameters is higher than that of the traditional 316 stainless steels, but lower than the alumina-forming alloys (AFAs) developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. We do not recommend high priority in further studying these compositions unless higher Cr alloys are required for hot-corrosion resistance.
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
Sigma phases in an 11%Cr ferritic/martensitic steel with the normalized and tempered condition
At the present time 9–12% Cr ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels with target operating temperatures up to 650 °C and higher are being developed in order to further increase thermal efficiency so as to reduce coal consumption and air pollution. An 11% Cr F/M steel was prepared by reference to the nominal chemical composition of SAVE12 steel with an expected maximum use temperature of 650 °C. The precipitate phases of the 11% Cr F/M steel normalized at 1050 °C for 0.5 h and tempered at 780 °C for 1.5 h were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Except for Cr-/Cr-Fe-Co-rich M{sub 23}C{sub 6}, Nb-/V-/Ta-Nb-/Nd-rich MX, Fe-rich M{sub 5}C{sub 2}, Co-rich M{sub 3}C and Fe-Co-rich M{sub 6}C phases previously identified in the steel, two types of sigma phases consisting of σ-FeCr and σ-FeCrW were found to be also present in the normalized and tempered steel. Identified σ-FeCr and σ-FeCrW phases have a simple tetragonal crystal structure with estimated lattice parameters a/c = 0.8713/0.4986 and 0.9119/0.5053 nm, respectively. The compositions in atomic pct of the observed sigma phases were determined to be approximately 50Fe-50Cr for the σ-FeCr, and 30Fe-55Cr-10W in addition to a small amount of Ta, Co and Mn for the σ-FeCrW. The sigma phases in the steel exhibit various blocky morphologies, and appear to have a smaller amount compared with the dominant phases Cr-rich M{sub 23}C{sub 6} and Nb-/V-/Ta-Nb-rich MX of the steel. The σ-FeCr phase in the steel was found to precipitate at δ-ferrite/martensite boundaries, suggesting that δ-ferrite may rapidly induce the formation of sigma phase at δ-ferrite/martensite boundaries in high Cr F/M steels containing δ-ferrite. The formation mechanism of sigma phases in the steel is also discussed in terms of the presence of δ-ferrite, M{sub 23}C{sub 6} precipitation, precipitation/dissolution of M{sub 2}X, and steel composition. - Highlights: •Precipitate phases in normalized and tempered 11%Cr F/M steel are presented in detail. • σ-FeCr phase, 50Fe50Cr (in at.%), was identified in normalized and tempered 11%Cr F/M steel. • σ-FeCrW phase, 30Fe55Cr10W (in at.%), was identified in normalized and tempered 11%Cr F/M steel. • Sigma phase in the 11%Cr F/M steel was found to precipitate at δ-ferrite/martensite boundaries. • δ-ferrite may rapidly induce the sigma phase formation at δ-ferrite/martensite boundaries.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Synergistic Computational and Microstructural Design of Next- Generation High-Temperature Austenitic Stainless Steels
The purpose of this project was to: 1) study deformation twinning, its evolution, thermal stability, and the contribution on mechanical response of the new advanced stainless steels, especially at elevated temperatures; 2) study alumina-scale formation on the surface, as an alternative for conventional chromium oxide, that shows better oxidation resistance, through alloy design; and 3) design new generation of high temperature stainless steels that form alumina scale and have thermally stable nano-twins. The work involved few baseline alloys for investigating the twin formation under tensile loading, thermal stability of these twins, and the role of deformation twins on the mechanical response of the alloys. These baseline alloys included Hadfield Steel (Fe-13Mn-1C), 316, 316L and 316N stainless steels. Another baseline alloy was studied for alumina-scale formation investigations. Hadfield steel showed twinning but undesired second phases formed at higher temperatures. 316N stainless steel did not show signs of deformation twinning. Conventional 316 stainless steel demonstrated extensive deformation twinning at room temperature. Investigations on this alloy, both in single crystalline and polycrystalline forms, showed that deformation twins evolve in a hierarchical manner, consisting of micron–sized bundles of nano-twins. The width of nano-twins stays almost constant as the extent of strain increases, but the width and number of the bundles increase with increasing strain. A systematic thermomechanical cycling study showed that the twins were stable at temperatures as high as 900°C, after the dislocations are annealed out. Using such cycles, volume fraction of the thermally stable deformation twins were increased up to 40% in 316 stainless steel. Using computational thermodynamics and kinetics calculations, we designed two generations of advanced austenitic stainless steels. In the first generation, Alloy 1, which had been proposed as an alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel, is fully austenitic, but possesses carbides that were not dissolvable and could not be controlled. This alloy also did not show deformation twinning. Alloy 2 was designed based on alloy 1, but was not fully austenitic and had significant traces of uncontrollable precipitates as well. Alloy 3, also designed based on alloy 1, was mainly austenitic with evolution of a second phase along the grain boundaries, but also had precipitates that were not controllable. Based on the knowledge gained from the first generation of the designed steels, two more steels, called PGAA1 and PGAA2, were proposed using genetic algorithms that, based on the modelling, were supposed to exhibit alumina-scale formation. PGAA1, however, did not demonstrate a fully austenitic structure. PGAA2 could achieve a mostly austenitic structure through thermo-mechanical processing, and was then used for oxidation tests. The oxidation tests of PGAA2, with and without nitrogen impurities, along with alloy 1, suggested that PGAA2 can form alumina-scale similar to alloy 1, but N impurity will prevent formation of such a scale, probably through formation of aluminum nitrides. For the above mentioned genetic algorithm framework of alloy design, separate models were developed for specific design criteria. For prediction of alumina formation in stainless steels, a model was constructed based off of two criteria – effective valence and third element effect. These criteria capture the thermodynamics and kinetics of alumina formation in steels. To test the efficacy and robustness of this model, they were tested against alloys in the literature which had been experimentally verified to exhibit alumina formation and the predictions were in excellent agreement with the experiments. Another meta-model for prediction of twinning in unknown steel compositions was developed by an informatics based machine learning/data mining approach. Stacking Fault Energy data was captured from the literature for a large number of steel compositions and then this data was used to build a classifier to predict deformation mechanisms. Here a training set-test set based analysis was performed to test performance. The above genetic algorithm based optimization framework for alloy design was exhibited to be a successful methodology for accelerated materials discovery in the context of alloy design.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Fracture Toughness of High-Cr Steels after Various Thermomechanical Treatments
This research aimed to improve the mechanical properties of high-Cr steels by developing new thermomechanical processes for application to advanced fast reactors. A simultaneous improvement of fracture toughness and strength was specifically targeted in the design of thermomechanical processing for various 9Cr and 12Cr steels. For the structural materials of fusion and fast reactors, the high-chromium steels with fine ferritic/martensitic (FM) structures are favored because of their high creep strength and excellent resistance to high-temperature radiation damage such as void swelling. After the traditional thermomechanical treatment consisting of normalizing, water quenching, and tempering, however, the high-Cr steels show limited mechanical properties at high temperatures, e.g., significant decrease of strength above ~450°C. Since the high-Cr steels are tempered at high temperatures (typically around 750°C), significant coarsening of the lath structure and carbides and annihilation of dislocations occur in the final thermomechanical treatment. It is believed that the high-temperature tempering can maximize the ductility of the FM steels, but their high-temperature strength is reduced and often with high-temperature fracture toughness. It is also likely that such a fully-tempered structure will demonstrate a lowered radiation resistance when compared to the steels with finer structures. This research was planned to explore new processing routes that can produce ultrafine microstructures and thus can improve the high-temperature mechanical properties of the high-Cr steels. In this research, three 9Cr steels and two 12Cr steels were selected and a series of new thermomechanical process treatments (TMTs) were designed and applied to the five steels to find the TMT routes that will result in increase of both strength and fracture toughness. It was demonstrated for HT-9 steels that some tailored TMTs increased or maintained the fracture toughness of the high-Cr steels while the treatments could significantly increase their strength to the level comparable to those of nanostructured ferritic alloys. This report compares the fracture toughness data of both 9Cr and 12Cr steels after various thermomechanical treatments with the reference data of similar steels. A two-step tempering route is selected for application to the high-Cr steels for reactor core structures.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
The nature of nano-sized precipitates in ferritic/martensitic steel P92 produced by thermomechanical treatment
Thermomechanical treatment (TMT) can effectively improve the mechanical properties of high-Cr ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels, which has been mainly attributed to a dense dispersion of nano-sized precipitates. Precipitate phases in high-Cr F/M steels produced by TMT require further investigations. Precipitates in commercial F/M steel P92 produced by a TMT process, warm-rolled at 650 °C plus tempered at 650 °C for 1 h, were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Nano-sized precipitates with a high number density in the steel after the TMT were found to be Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitride, rather than MX or M{sub 23}C{sub 6} phase. The M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitride has a hexagonal lattice with the lattice parameters about a/c = 0.299/0.463 nm. These M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitrides with a typical composition of (Cr{sub 0.85}V{sub 0.06}Fe{sub 0.06}Mo{sub 0.03}){sub 2}(C,N) have an average diameter smaller than 30 nm, and mainly distribute on dislocations and at the boundaries of equiaxed ferrite grains in the TMT steel. The TMT process inhibits the precipitation of M{sub 23}C{sub 6} and M{sub 5}C{sub 2} phases. Enhanced creep properties of the P92 steel after the TMT, as reported previously, were considered to be mainly attributed to plenty of nano-sized Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitrides produced by the TMT rather than to MX and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} precipitates. - Graphical abstract: TEM micrographs of precipitates on extraction carbon replicas prepared from ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steel P92. (a) After conventional heat treatment, normalized at 1050 °C for 30 min plus tempered at 765 °C for 1 h. (b) After a thermomechanical treatment (TMT), warm-rolled at 650 °C plus tempered at 650 °C for 1 h. Nano-sized precipitates with a high number density in the steel produced by the TMT were found to be Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitride, rather than MX or M{sub 23}C{sub 6} phase. The TMT process inhibits the precipitation of M{sub 23}C{sub 6} and M{sub 5}C{sub 2} phases. Enhanced creep properties of the steel by the TMT are mainly attributed to plenty of nano-sized Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitrides, rather than to MX and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} precipitates. It is suggested that plenty of nano-sized Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) carbonitrides produced by the TMT are more helpful to improve the creep properties of the steel than M{sub 23}C{sub 6} plus MX precipitates obtained by the conventional heat treatment. - Highlights: •Carbon replicas were used for precisely identifying nano-sized phases in steel produced by TMT. •Densely nano-sized precipitates in P92 steel after TMT were found to be Cr-rich M{sub 2}(C,N) phase. •Fine precipitates produced by TMT can be M{sub 2}X phase instead of MX and/or M{sub 23}C{sub 6} phase. •Enhanced creep properties of P92 steel by TMT is attributed to fine M{sub 2}X, rather than to MX and M{sub 23}C{sub 6}. •TMT involving a tempering at 650 °C inhibits the formation of M{sub 23}C{sub 6}/M{sub 5}C{sub 2} phases in high-Cr steels.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Influencing mechanism of Al-containing Zn coating on interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir spot welded Mg–steel joint
Highlights: • Al-containing Zn coating improved Mg–steel interfacial wettability during friction stir spot welding (FSSW). • Pre-existing Al{sub 5}Fe{sub 2} phase in coating on steel surface promoted Mg–steel metallurgical bonding. • A high tensile-shear load of 4.3 kN was obtained in FSSW AZ31–steel joint. - Abstract: 2.4 mm thick AZ31 Mg alloy sheet and 1.5 mm Q234 steel sheet with a hot-dipped Al-containing Zn coating were friction stir spot welded (FSSW) using a pinless tool. It was shown that the Al-containing Zn coating played a crucial role in joining the Mg alloy and steel during FSSW. The Zn coating observably improved the Mg–steel interfacial wettability during FSSW, and the Al{sub 5}Fe{sub 2} phase in the Zn coating on the steel substrate surface promoted the metallurgical bonding of Mg alloy and steel. It was confirmed that the Al{sub 5}Fe{sub 2} phase on the steel surface resulted from the reaction between the steel substrate and the Al in the Zn coating during hot-dipping, and was not related to the Al-containing Mg alloy substrate. The tensile-shear load of the FSSW Mg–steel joint reached 4.3 kN. The fracture of the joint occurred along the interface on the steel substrate side. The interface between the Al{sub 5}Fe{sub 2} layer and Mg alloy substrate was the weakest region of the Mg–steel joint.
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
Effect of Tempered Martensite and Ferrite/Bainite on Corrosion Behavior of Low Alloy Steel Used for Flexible Pipe Exposed to High-Temperature Brine Environment
Immersion experiments and electrochemical measurements were carried out to study the effect of tempered martensite and ferrite/bainite on corrosion behavior of low alloy steel used for flexible pipe exposed to high-temperature brine environment in terms of microstructure morphology, corrosion rate, corrosion products characteristics, potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The experimental results indicated that the proportion of high-angle grain boundaries of tempered martensite steel was greater than ferrite/bainite steel. The corrosion rate of ferrite/bainite steel was lower than tempered martensite steel. With increasing immersion time, the structure of corrosion products formed on the surface of ferrite/bainite steel was more compact and denser than tempered martensite steel. In addition, the current density of ferrite/bainite steel was lower than tempered martensite steel. The charge transfer resistance and total impedance of ferrite/bainite steel were larger than tempered martensite steel. Thus, the corrosion resistance of ferrite/bainite steel exposed to high-temperature brine environment was excellent compared to the tempered martensite steel.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Effect of Aluminum Alloying on the Hot Deformation Behavior of Nano-bainite Bearing Steel
Interest in using aluminum in nano-bainite steel, especially for high-carbon bearing steel, is gradually growing. In this study, GCr15SiMo and GCr15SiMoAl steels are introduced to investigate the effect of Al alloying on the hot deformation behavior of bearing steel. Results show that the addition of Al not only notably increases the flow stress of steel due to the strong strengthening effect of Al on austenite phase, but also accelerates the strain-softening rates for its increasing effect on stacking fault energy. Al alloying also increases the activation energy of deformation. Two constitutive equations with an accuracy of higher than 0.99 are proposed. The constructed processing maps show the expanded instability regions for GCr15SiMoAl steel as compared with GCr15SiMo steel. This finding is consistent with the occurrence of cracking on the GCr15SiMoAl specimens, revealing that Al alloying reduces the high-temperature plasticity of the bearing steel. On the contrary, GCr15SiMoAl steel possesses smaller grain size than GCr15SiMo steel, manifesting the positive effect of Al on bearing steel. Attention should be focused on the hot working process of bearing steel with Al.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Corrosion Behavior of Annealed Steels with Different Carbon Contents (0.002, 0.17, 0.43 and 0.7% C) in Freely Aerated 3.5% NaCl Solution
Four annealed carbon steels with different carbon contents (0.002, 0.17, 0.43, and 0.7% C), consisting of ferrite, ferrite-pearlite and fully pearlite microstructures, were selected to understand the corrosion behavior of carbon steel as a function of carbon content in freely aerated 3.5% NaCl solution. Dynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance and linear polarization methods were used. The corrosion rate obtained from the different carbon steels was found to increase greatly from ultra-low carbon steel (0.002%) to low carbon steel (0.17%) due to the presence of pearlite in the low carbon steel. However, the increase in corrosion rate was marginal with the increase in carbon content from low carbon (0.17%) to medium (0.43% C) and high carbon steels (0.7% C). The mirostrucural evolution of the steels before and after polarization test without etching as observed by scanning electron microscopy could show that the corrosion behavior of the steels with the presence of pearlite was due to the combined effect from % pearlite, interlamellar spacing and cementite/ferrite area ratio in pearlite. Pearlite morphology also led to the differential corrosion within the pearlite colony in all the steels except the steel with 0.002% C. Catalytic activity of cementite on enhancing oxygen reduction reaction attributes to the higher corrosion rates in case of the steels with the presence of pearlite.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Fe-saponite growth on low-carbon and stainless steel in hydrothermal-bentonite experiments
Hydrothermal experiments on engineered barrier system (EBS) materials were conducted to characterize high temperature interactions between bentonite and candidate waste container steels (304SS, 316SS, low-C steel) for deep geological disposition of nuclear spent fuel. In this study, hydrothermal experiments were performed using Dickson reaction cells at temperatures and pressure of up to 300 °C and 15–16 MPa, respectively, for four to six weeks. Wyoming bentonite was saturated with a 1900 ppm K-Ca-Na-Cl solution in combination with stainless and low-C steel coupons. Authigenic Fe-saponite precipitated utilizing steel as a growth substrate with Fe being supplied by steel corrosion. Concurrent with Fe-saponite formation, sulfides precipitated from sulfide-bearing fluids, from pyrite dissolution, near the steel interface. Sulfide mineral formation is dependent on the steel substrate composition: stainless steel produced pentlandite ((Ni, Fe) 9 S 8 ) and millerite (NiS), whereas low C steel generated pyrrhotite (Fe 7 S 8 ). The presence of sulfides suggests highly reduced environments at the steel-clay barrier interface potentially influencing overall steel corrosion rates and (re)passivation mechanisms. Finally, results of this research show that nuclear waste steel container material may act as a substrate for mineral growth in response to corrosion during hydrothermal interactions with bentonite barriers.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Novel Steels for High Temperature Carburizing (Final Scientific Report)
This program was undertaken to develop a microalloy-modified grade of standard carburizing steel that can successfully exploit the high temperature carburizing capabilities of current commercial low pressure (i.e. 'vacuum') carburizing systems. Such steels can lower the amount of energy required for commercial carburizing operations by reducing the time required for deep-case carburizing operations. The specific technical objective of the work was to demonstrate a carburizing steel composition capable of maintaining a prior austenite grain size no larger than ASTM grain size number 5 after exposure to simulated carburizing conditions of 1050°C for 8 hr. Such thermal exposure should be adequate for producing carburized case depths up to about 2 mm. Such carburizing steels are expected to be attractive for use across a wide range of industries, including the petroleum, chemical, forest products, automotive, mining and industrial equipment industries. They have potential for reducing energy usage during low pressure carburizing by more than 25%, as well as reducing cycle times and process costs substantially. They also have potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from existing low pressure carburizing furnaces by more than 25%. High temperature carburizing can be done in most modern low pressure carburizing systems with no additional capital investment. Accordingly, implementing this technology on carburizing furnaces will provide a return on investment significantly greater than 10%. If disseminated throughout the domestic carburizing community, the technology has potential for saving on the order of 23 to 34 trillion BTU/year in industrial energy usage. Under the program, two compositions of microalloyed, coarsening-resistant low alloy carburizing steels were developed, produced and evaluated. After vacuum annealing at 1050°C for 8 hrs and high pressure gas quenching, both steels exhibited a prior austenite ASTM grain size number of 5.0 or finer. For comparison, a control alloy of similar composition but without the microalloy additions exhibited a duplex prior austenite grain size with grains ranging from ASTM grain size 3 down to ASTM grain size 1 after similar processing and thermal exposure. These results confirm the potential for using microalloy additions of Ti, B, Nb, Al, rare earths and/or N for austenite grain size control in Cr-Mo (i.e. 4000-series) low alloy carburizing steels. They also demonstrate that these microalloy additions will not compromise the processability of the steel; all three materials produced under the program could be hot worked readily using normal steel processing protocols. To fully realize the technical and commercial potential of these steels, there is a need to continue development work using larger-scale heats. These larger-scale heats are needed to provide adequate material for fatigue testing of quenched and tempered alloys, to conduct more complete investigations of potential alloy chemistries and to provide additional material for processing studies. It will also be beneficial to carefully review intellectual property issues associated with this family of steels, since existing Japanese patent literature suggests that significant microstructural and/or process characterization work may be needed on new materials to confirm that these materials fall outside existing patent claims.
02 PETROLEUM↗
Microstructural Developments Leading to New Advanced High Strength Sheet Steels: A Historical Assessment of Critical Metallographic Observations
In the past 30+ years significant advancements have been made in the development of higher strength sheet steels with improved combinations of strength and ductility that have enabled important product improvements leading to safer, lighter weight, and more fuel efficient automobiles and in other applications. Properties of the primarily low carbon, low alloy steels are derived through careful control of time-temperature processing histories designed to produce multiphase ferritic based microstructures that include martensite and other constituents including retained austenite. The basis for these developments stems from the early work on dual-phase steels which was the subject of much interest. In response to industry needs, dual-phase steels have evolved as a unique class of advanced high strength sheet steels (AHSS) in which the thermal and mechanical processing histories have been specifically designed to produce constituent combinations for the purpose of simultaneously controlling strength and deformation behavior, i.e. stress-strain curve shapes. Improvements continue as enhanced dual-phase steels have recently been produced with finer microstructures, higher strengths, and better overall formability. Today, dual phase steels are the primary AHSS products used in vehicle manufacture, and several companies have indicated that the steels will remain as important design materials well into the future. In this presentation, fundamental results from the early work on dual-phase steels will be reviewed and assessed in light of recent steel developments. Specific contributions from industry/university cooperative research leading to product improvements will be highlighted. The historical perspective provided in the evolution of dual-phase steels represents a case-study that provides important framework and lessons to be incorporated in next generation AHSS products.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Characterization of Static Performance and Failure of Resistance Spot Welds of High-Strength and Press-Hardened Steels
The static performances and failure characteristics of resistance spot welds (RSW) of steel sheets were studied in this work. Both similar and dissimilar joints of press-hardened steel grade 22MnB5 and as-rolled high-strength steel grade 1000 were examined. From metallographic analyses and micro-hardness measurements, it was shown that the microstructures of base metal (BM), heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone of steel joints were noticeably different. In particular, the HAZ close to BM or subcritical HAZ (SCHAZ) of 22MnB5 steel exhibited greatly decreased hardness due to occurring tempered martensite, in which carbide precipitation was clearly observed. Furthermore, tensile shear test and cross-tension test of the welded steel sheets were carried out. The determined maximum loads, energy absorbability and corresponding failure mechanisms were analyzed and compared. The RSW samples of similar steel grade 1000 provided the highest load-carrying capacity and absorbed energy in both tests. Due to the large hardness difference and soft zone in weldment of dissimilar steel specimen, failure loads and static absorbed energies were deteriorated up to 17 and 68%, respectively. The observed fracture occurrences of all investigated joints were pullout failure mode, in which BM and HAZ were the crack initiation sites of grades 1000 steel and 22MnB5 steel, respectively. The SCHAZ of welded boron steel considerably caused the failure onset in tension shear test, but seemed to have negligible effect on cross-tension test.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗