Memorie >> Acciaio

EFFECT OF CARBON CONTENT ON

THE PHASE TRANSFORMATION
CHARACTERISTICS, MICROSTRUCTURE
AND PROPERTIES OF 500 MPa GRADE
MICROALLOYED STEELS WITH NON-
POLYGONAL FERRITE MICROSTRUCTURES
P. Suikkanen, P. Karjalainen, A. J. DeArdo

The inluence of C in the range of 0.011-0.043 wt-% on the phase transformation characteristics, mechanical properties and
microstructure of Fe-2.0Mn-0.25Mo-0.8Ni-0.05Nb-0.03Ti steel was investigated. In the dilatometric experiments, it was
found that a reduction in the C content increased the phase transformation temperatures, decreased the hardness and
promoted quasi-polygonal ferrite (QF) formation over granular bainitic ferrite (GBF) and bainitic ferrite (BF), but at the same
time the sensitivity of the phase transformation temperatures and hardness to cooling rates was reduced. Mechanical testing
of laboratory hot rolled plates revealed that the targeted yield strength of 500 MPa was reached even in the steel with
the lowest C content (0.011wt-%). An increase in C content did not considerably increase the yield strength, although the
tensile strength was more signiicantly increased. Impact toughness properties, in turn, were markedly deteriorated due to this
C content increment. Microstructural analysis of the hot rolled plates showed that an increase in C content decreased the
fraction of QF and consequently increased the fraction of GBF and BF, as well as the size and fraction of C-enriched secondary
microconstituents. In addition, the size of the coarsest crystallographic packets seemed to be iner in the low C steel
with QF dominated microstructure than in its higher C counterparts with higher fractions of GBF-BF, even thought the
average crystallographic packet size was slightly iner in these higher C steels.
Mechanical testing of the simulated CGHAZ’s showed that their toughness properties are not strongly dependent
on C content, although there exists a general trend for toughness to slightly weaken with increasing C content. It
could be concluded that HAZ toughness properties of these types of steels are acceptable. On the basis of dilatometric
experiments, mechanical testing and microstructural analysis it can be stated that a good combination of strength,
toughness and weldability as well as microstructural stability can be reached in very low C steels with QF dominated
microstructures. Finally, an example of this type of microstuctural concept, which has been successfully

KEYWORDS: Carbon content, microalloying, austenite decomposition, microstructure, quasi-polygonal ferrite,

granular bainitic ferrite, bainitic ferrite, strength, impact toughness, weldability, EBSD-IQ

INTRODUCTION impact toughness and good weldability, thermomecha-

nically controlled processing of very low C microalloyed
While searching for structural heavy gauge steel pla- (Nb, Ti) steels with suitable combination of other alloying
tes with the yield strength of 500MPa and above, high elements (Mn, Mo, Ni, Cu, etc.) has been established to
be a potential route [1,2,3,4,5]. A desired property of the-
Pasi Suikkanen, Pentti Karjalainen
se types of extremely low C steels is their relatively low
University of Oulu, Finland sensitivity of microstructure, and thereby also mechanical
Anthony J. DeArdo properties, to the cooling rate [3,6]. Their microstructure
University of Pittsburgh, USA & University of Oulu, Finland is no longer polygonal ferrite (PF), but consists of diffe-
rent morphologies of non-equilibrium ferrites, such as
Paper presented at the 3rd International Conference Thermomecha- non-polygonal ferrite and low C bainitic transformation
nical Processing of Steels, Padova, 10-12 september 2008
products [1,2,7,8,9]. Quantitative characterization of these

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Code C Si Mn P S Cu Ni Cr Mo Nb Ti Al N Pcm
0.011C 0.011 0.19 1.98 0.003 0.004 0.22 0.82 0.03 0.26 0.052 0.034 0.03 0.005 0.16
0.024C 0.024 0.17 1.99 0.004 0.004 0.22 0.82 0.03 0.26 0.054 0.031 0.026 0.005 0.17
0.043C 0.043 0.18 1.99 0.003 0.003 0.23 0.81 0.03 0.26 0.054 0.031 0.031 0.005 0.19
Pcm=C+(Mn+Cr+Cu)/20+Si/30+60/Ni+Mo/15+V/10+5B
s ▼
Tab. 1 Tab. 2
Chemical composition of investigated steel in wt-%. The pass schedule of the hot rolling experiments.
Composizione chimica in peso-% dell’acciaio esaminato. Schema dei passaggi negli esperimenti di laminazione a caldo.

Pass no. Temperature (°C) Thickness (mm) Pass reduction (%) Total reduction (%)
55
1 1150 41 25 25
2 1120 30 27 45
3 880 26 13 53
4 830 22 15 60
5 810 18 18 67
6 800 15 17 73
7 790 12 20 78

kinds of mixed microstructures is dificult, which is a Phase transformation start and inish temperatures
reason for making the comprehensive understanding of were determined from the dilatometric curves and com-
their microstructure-property combinations complicated bined with the optical (OM) and ield emission gun
[4,5,10]. electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) microstructural analysis
The purpose of the present study is to investigate and un- and hardness measurements (HV10) to construct complete
derstand the inluence of C content in the range of 0.01- continuous cooling time (CCT) diagrams. Classiication of
0.043 wt-% on the phase transformation characteristics and microstructures was performed according to the classiica-
mechanical properties of Fe-2.0Mn-0.25Mo-0.8Ni-0.05Nb- tion system of the Bainite Committee of ISIJ [11].
0.03Ti steel with non-equilibrium ferritic microstructu- To test the mechanical properties, laboratory hot rolling
res. The aim is to characterize these microstructures using trials were conducted. Slabs with the dimensions of
advanced electron optical techniques in order to under- 240 x 70 x 55 mm were normalised at 950°C for 2h
stand the physical metallurgy basis of the microstructure- and air-cooled to room temperature. The slabs were then
property combinations. Finally, an example of industrial reheated at 1250°C for 2 h after which they were hot rol-
applicability of the microstructural concept is given. led to a thickness of 12 mm using the hot rolling schedule
given in Tab. 2. After the hot rolling, the plates were water-
EXPERIMENTAL spray cooled to room temperature at the rate of about 12-
15°C/s.
The chemical compositions of investigated steels with their Tensile tests were carried out at room temperature
carbon equivalents (Pcm) are given in Tab. 1. The base using specimens cut parallel to the rolling direction.
composition was taken as Fe-0.2Si-2.0Mn-0.2Cu-0.8Ni- Two samples were tested for each plate and the ave-
0.25Mo-0.05Nb-0.03Ti and the C content was varied at rage value is reported. Charpy-V testing was perfor-
three levels: 0.011, 0.023 and 0.043wt-%. The chemical med using 6 individual longitudinal specimens. The
compositions presented in Tab. 1 are based on optical Charpy-V specimens were used to determine transition
emission spectrometry analysis with the exception of the curves by testing one specimen per temperature and
C contents, which were determined by using the combu- choosing test temperatures on the basis of previous re-
stion technique to achieve a better accuracy. sults in a series. In this way it was possible to ind out the
In order to study the phase transformation characteri- temperatures corresponding to ductile-to-brittle transition
stics, dilatometric experiments in a Gleeble 1500 simula- temperature (DBTT), temperature for 27J (T27J) as well as
tor were carried out. Steel pieces were soaked at 1250°C for the upper shelf energy (KV(US)) despite the limited num-
2 h and water quenched before machining the cylindrical ber of specimens.
specimens with a diameter of 6 mm and length of 9 mm. Microstuctural analyses of laboratory hot rolled plates
In the Gleeble, the specimens were reheated at 20°C/s to were performed using OM, FEG-SEM and EBSD measu-
1100°C and held for 2 min followed by cooling at 10°C/s rements with the so called image quality (IQ) technique,
to 850°C, where a single-pass compression strain of 0.6 at a which is a novel method for quantiication of different
rate of 0.1s-1 was applied. forms of ferrite based on measuring of their lattice im-
After a 5 s hold, controlled continuous cooling was initia- perfection. The index for indication of lattice imperfection
ted at the rates from 0.4 to 48°C/s to room temperature. is the IQ in EBSD maps. A more detailed description of this

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method can be found, for instance, in Reference [10]. a

In order to evaluate the weldabilty of steels, coarse-grained
heat affected zone (CGHAZ) simulation tests were perfor-
med in a Gleeble 1500 simulator. Longitudinal specimens
with dimensions of 10 x 10 x 90 mm, were extracted from
the hot rolled plates. In the Gleeble, the specimens were
subjected to following thermal cycle: heating at 100 °C/s to
1300 °C followed by 50 °C/s to 1350 °C, holding at 1350°C
for 1s and cooling using the Gleeble’s 3D cooling program
with a cooling time from 800 to 500°C (t8/5) of 30 s.
Charpy-V and hardness tests were performed in the si-
milar manner as described above. The standard crack tip
open displacement (CTOD) specimens were tested at room
temperature (23°C) and simple mean values are reported.
b
PHASE TRANSFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS
AND MICROSTRUCTURES

The CCT diagrams of the investigated steels are shown in

Figs. 1 a-c. A prominent feature of these steels was the low
sensitivity of transformation temperatures to the cooling
rates and this robustness tended to strengthen with de-
creasing C content, as seen by comparing Figs. 1 a-c. This
observation
was further supported by the hardness values. For exam-
ple, in 0.043C steel, the hardness increased
by about 16 HV10 (from 215 HV10 to 231 HV10), as the
cooling rate increased from 0.4°C/s to 48°C/s (Fig. 1 c), c
whereas in 0.011C steel, the hardness values were virtually
unchanged over the studied cooling rate range, exhibiting
values slightly above 200 HV10 (Fig. 1 a). In 0.024C steel,
hardness was increased by about 10 HV10 with increasing
cooling rate from 0.4°C/s to 48°C/s, Fig. 1 b.
As expected, for a given cooling rate, the phase tran-
sformation temperatures decreased with increasing C
content. However, this decrease was not very pronounced.
For instance, at the rates between 12-24°C/s, the phase
transformation start temperatures were suppressed only
by 20-25°C, when C content increased from 0.011wt-% to
0.043 wt-%. Further, in 0.024C and 0.043C steels, the dif-
ference in phase transformation start temperatures was
within 10°C. On the other hand, the phase transformation
inish temperatures seemed to be somewhat more affec- s
ted by C content. At the cooling rates of 12-24°C/s, pha- Fig. 1
se transformation inish temperatures decreased by about CCT-diagrams for steels (a) 0.011C, (b) 0.024C and
40-50°C, when C content increased from minimum to (c) 0.043C. The Bs temperatures were estimated using an
maximum level. Consistent with the phase transforma- equation Bs (°C) = 830-270C-90Mn-37Ni-70Cr-83Mo [12].
tion temperatures, the hardness values, for a given co- Diagrammi CCT- per acciai (a) 0.011C, (b) 0.024C e (c) 0.043C.
oling rate, were not signiicantly increased. For example, Le temperature Bs (bainite start) sono state stimate usando l’
at the cooling rate of 12°C/s, hardness was increased by equazione Bs (°C) = 830-270C-90Mn-37Ni-70Cr-83Mo [12].
about 20 HV10 with increasing C content from 0.011wt-%
to 0.043wt-%. steel, rather coarse irregular shaped grains with highly
It is seen from Figs. 1 a-c, that the / transformation in all ragged boundaries characterized the microstructures at
steels initiated between 610-650°C that is well below the all studied cooling rates. Between these coarse grains
estimated equilibrium temperatures, where transforms ine fragmented structure was observed. No clear in-
into PF or PF/pearlite, but still slightly higher than the dication of prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGB’s)
estimated bainite start (Bs) temperatures. However, were detected (Fig. 2 a). Based on the OM and SEM
pronounced fractions of the / transformations still oc- analyses, the coarse ragged like grains were classiied as
curred below the typical phase transformation range for QF and the ine fragmented structure as GBF according to
low C bainite (i.e. below 550-600°C). This would suggest terminology of Bainite committee of ISIJ [11]. Increasing
that the resulting microstructures should be mixtures of the cooling rate slightly promoted the formation of GBF
non-polygonal ferrite and low C bainitic transformation and suppressed the QF formation, but QF was still estima-
products. This assumption was further conirmed by OM ted to be the dominant ferrite morphology at the highest
and SEM micrographs, as seen in Figs. 2 a-f. In the 0.011C cooling rates (Fig. 1 a). No signiicant fractions of other fer-

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a b

c d

e f

s
Fig. 2
OM and SEM micrographs of (a) and (b) 0.011C steel, (c) and (d) 0.024C steel, and (e) and (f) 0.043C steel as deformed
0.6/0.1s-1 at 850°C and cooled at 12°C/s to room temperature.
Micrografie OM e SEM di acciai 0.011C (a) e (b), acciai 0.024C (c) e (d), e acciai 0.043C (e) e (f), deformati 0.6/0.1s-1 a 850°C e
raffreddati a 12°C/s fino a temperatura ambiente.

rite morphologies were found even at the highest cooling se C-ESM’s seemed to be frequently associated with a ine
rates. In SEM micrographs, the bimodal grain structure ferrite grain structure with well-etched grain boundaries,
between QF and GBF was clearly revealed, Fig. 2 b. The as seen in Fig. 2 b.
QF grains were much coarser than those of the GBF, which In the 0.024C steel, the main ferrite morphologies at low
also exhibited more regular boundaries. In addition, the and medium cooling rates were QF and GBF, Fig. 2 b.
QF seemed to be generally free of the coarse C-enriched These ferrite forms were estimated to be present at equal
secondary microconstituents (C-ESM’s) such as mar- fractions, but the fraction of GBF for a given cooling rate
tensite-austenite (MA), but these microconstituents were was estimated to be higher than in its lower C counter-
mainly located inside GBF. It has been reported that all part (i.e., 0.011C steel). At the higher cooling rates
the secondary microconstituents may not necessarily be (>24°C/s), the microstructure was clearly accompa-
MA, but they can range from high C pearlite to conven- nied by the formation of lath like ferrite with acicular
tional bainite and martensite [13], and this observation C-ESM’s between the laths. This ferrite morphology was
was supported by the present SEM studies. Therefore, classiied as BF, Fig. 2 d. Similarly to 0.011C steel, no
these secondary islands are referred as C-ESM’s instead clear indication of the PAGB’s was detected, especially
of MA. In the GBF part of the microstructure, in turn, the- at the lowest cooling rates, even though some traces of

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a a

b b

s s
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
Effect of C content (a) on the tensile and (b) on the Effect of C content (a) on the HV10 and CTOD and
impact toughness properties of laboratory hot rolled plates. (b) on Charpy-V characteristics of the simulated CGHAZ with
Effetto del contenuto di C (a) sulle proprietà tensili e (b) sulla t8/5 of 30 s.
tenacità delle lamiere laminate a caldo in laboratorio. Effetto del contenuto di C: (a) sulle caratteristiche HV10
e CTOD e (b) sulle Charpy-V della CGHAZ ( ZTA a grano
grossolano) simulato con t 8/5 di 30 s.
these boundaries were found at the cooling rates of 24-
48°C/s.
In the 0.043C steel, the fraction of QF was clearly suppres- nounced; yield strength increased only by about 30 MPa,
sed at the lowest cooling rates, but its formation was, ho- when C content increased from 0.011wt-% to 0.043wt-%.
wever, not completely eliminated even at the highest coo- Tensile strength (Rm), in turn, was more affected and an
ling rates, Fig. 1 c. The reduction of QF was consequently increment of about 120MPa was obtained when C content
accompanied with the formation of increasing fractions increased from its lower limit to its upper limit studied.
of GBF and BF (Figs. 2 e and f) and increasing cooling rate Total elongation (A) in 0.011C steel was above 23% and
seemed to promote especially BF formation. decreased to about 20% in 0.024C steel. Further in-
Contrary to its lower C counterparts, some traces of crease in C content did, however, not deteriorate total
PAGB’s were occasionally observed (Fig. 2 e), which indi- elongation.
cates that formation of QF at these sites was locally elimi- Inluence of C on the Charpy-V characteristics is repre-
nated. In the SEM micrographs, the features of GBF were sented in Fig. 3 b. DBTT was below -80°C in 0.011C steel
found to slightly differ from those of GBF observed, e.g. and increased rather linearly to -50°C with increasing C
in 0.011C steel (Fig. 2 b). Especially, when GBF for- content. T27J, in turn, was not markedly affected by the
med without any constraints of QF and transforma- C content, although it slightly increased with increasing
tion took place from rather coarse, weakly pancaked C content. KV (US) decreased from 300J to slightly abo-
γ grains, the C-ESM’s seemed to be distributed in a ve 200J with increasing C. Impact energy at -60°C (KV(-
rather featureless matrix, where no distinct indications of 60°C)) in 0.011C steel was close to its KV (US), the fracture
grain boundaries were observed, Fig. 2 f. mode being 100% ductile. KV (-60°C) decreased sharply
This was contrary to the GBF in 0.011C steel, where well- with increasing C content, down to 80 J for 0.043C
discerned grain boundaries were detected in the part of steel, where the fracture surface exhibited only about
the microstructure classiied as GBF. 30% of ductile features.
The mechanical properties of simulated CGHAZ’s are
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF LABORATORY summarized in Figs. 4 a and b. The maximum hardness
HOT ROLLED PLATES AND SIMULATED CGHAZ of CGHAZ increased with increasing C content and
it was in line with the hardness measures in the CCT
Effect of C content on the tensile properties of the labora- diagrams at the cooling rate of 12°C/s, even though the
tory hot rolled plates is shown in Fig. 3 a. maximum hardness of GCHAZ seemed to be consistently
The effect of C on yield strength (Rp0.2) was not very pro- (and expectedly) somewhat 5-15HV higher. CTOD values

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s
a
Fig. 5
OM and SEM micrographs of 0.011C steel in
(a) and (b), respectively. An EBSD-OIM map with LAGB’s
coloured as grey and HAGB’s coloured as black (c). An
enlargement of GBF dominated part of the microstructure
as seen in EBSD-IQ image highlighting HAGB’s as black (d).
Micrografie OM e SEM dell’acciaio0.011C, rispettivamente
in (a) e (b). Una mappa EBSD-OIM (c) con bordi di grano a
basso angolo (LAGB) di colore grigio e bordi di grano a alto
angolo (HAGB) di colore nero. Un ingrandimento (d) della
parte della microstruttura con grano ferritico bainitico (GBF)
predominante, come mostrato nell’immagine EBSD-IQ che
evidenzia in nero i bordi di grano a alto angolo (HAGB).
b
hot rolled plates. For instance, DBTT values in 0.011C and
0.024C steels were within 10°C and it was only slightly
deteriorated as the C content increased to 0.043wt-%. T27J
decreased by about 15°C as the C content decreased from
0.043wt-% to 0.024wt-%, but, interestingly, 0.011C steel
showed the highest T27J (-10°C) among the studied steels,
Fig. 4 b

MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZESATION
OF LABORATORY HOT ROLLED PLATES

Consistent with the microstructures observed in the dila-

c tometric specimens, 0.011C steel exhibited microstructu-
re consisting of mixtures of QF and GBF, as seen in the
OM and SEM micrographs in Figs. 5 a and b, respectively.
Using the EBSD-IQ analysis, the volume fractions of QF
and GBF were found to be 66% and 25%, respectively. The
volume fraction of C-ESM’s was measured as 9%.
The EBSD measurements also allowed to calculate the ef-
fective grain size, which was determined as an equivalent
circle diameter (ECD) using the 15° misorientation as the
angle that determines the grain. This effective grain size
can be also considered as a crystallographic packet that is
a continuous set of ferrite plates with the misorientation
lower than a certain angle and it has been established to
be the microstructural unit that controls the toughness. In
d general, 15° is the standard misorientation limit for high
angle grain boundaries (HAGB’s) and, for instance, in low
C bainitic microstructures this misorientation has been
found to be the critical angle for a crystallographic
packet [14].
The average crystallographic packet size (dcp) was determi-
ned as 4.1 µm. On the other hand, the grain size distri-
bution, in SEM as well as EBSD images, revealed that the
grain size distribution was not uniform at all, but con-
sisted of rather wide distribution of iner and coarser
packets.
Although the average dcp was ine, 5% of the grains were
coarser than (dcp95%) 11.5µm and the size of the coarsest pa-
ckets (dmax), as measured as the mean value of 10 coarsest
grains in 6 EBSD maps of size of 567 x 425 µm, reached 31
at 23°C were rather independent of C content and remai- µm. The size of C-ESM’s, as measured from SEM images,
ned above 0.30 mm even in 0.043C steel, Fig. 4 a. was generally in sub-micrometer scale, the average being
KV(US) of CGHAZ decreased from 280J to 245J as the roughly 0.8 µm. Very coarse C-ESM’s above 2 µm were
C content increased from 0.01wt% to 0.043wt-%, Fig. 4 b only rarely detected.
and exhibited rather similar dependency on the C content As mentioned previously, QF in OM and SEM micro-
as KV(US) of the laboratory hot rolled plates did. DBTT graphs was observed to consist of coarse or massive like
and T27J values of the CGHAZ, in turn, did not show ragged grains that were deduced to be nucleated on the
similar dependency on the C content as observed in the PAGB’s, thereby eliminating these boundaries in the mi-

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s

a
Fig. 6
OM and SEM micrographs of 0.024C steel in (a) and
(b), respectively. EBSD-OIM maps with LAGB’s coloured as
grey and HAGB’s coloured as black (c). A larger EBSD-
OIM map highlighting LAGB’s as white (d).
Micrografie OM e SEM dell’acciaio 0. 024C rispettivamente
in (a) e (b). Mappe EBSD-OIM (c) con bordi di grano a basso
angolo (LAGB) di colore grigio e bordi di grano a alto angolo
(HAGB) di colore nero. Un’immagine di una mappa EBSD-IQ più
grande (d) che evidenzia in bianco LAGB.

crostructure, Figs. 5 a and b. In the EBSD- orientation ima-

ge map (OIM) images these coarse ragged grains are well
distinguishable, as seen in Fig. 5 c. Further, it was found b
that these QF grains contained a well-developed irregu-
lar substructure consisting of low angle grain boundaries
(LAGB’s) (i.e. boundaries with the misorientation lower
than 15°), as also depicted in Fig. 5 c. Another typical fea-
ture of the QF grains was the lack of coarse C-ESM’s, (Fig.
5 b), even though some random C-ESM’s were occasional-
ly detected inside QF. The coarser C-ESM’s were mainly
located in the portion of the microstructure that was clas-
siied as GBF, which, on the basis of EBSD measurements
was generally found to consist of quite ine grains compri-
sing of HAGB’s (i.e. ine dcp), as seen in Figs. 5 c and
d. The HAGB structure may also explain good etching
response of GBF “grains” or packets in the nital seen in c
SEM micrographs (Fig. 5 b).
The microstructure of 0.024C steel consisted of mixtures of
QF and GBF (Figs. 6 a and b). Locallysome traces of lath-
like ferrite with acicular C-ESM’s between the laths were
observed as the sign of BF formation. The fraction of QF
was reduced as compared to that of 0.011C steel and this
was attributed to an increase in fractions of GBF and
BF as well as that of C-ESM’s. However, the EBSD-
IQ analysis showed that QF was still the main ferrite
morphology present in the microstructure (47%), The
fractions of GBF and BF was determined as 34 %, while
the fraction of C-ESM’s was 19%.
The mean dcp and the dcp95% were 3.9 µm and 10.6 µm, re-
spectively, and they were slightly iner than in 0.011C ste- d
el. However, the size of the dmax in 0.024C steel reached
even up to 54 µm. The sizes of granular shaped C-ESM’s
were typically ranged from 1 µm to 2 µm, the mean value
being 1.5 µm, but some of the coarsest ones were above
3.0 µm.
Steel 0.024C seemed to exhibit more microstructural hete-
rogeneity than its lower C counterpart (i.e. 0.011C steel).
In the areas, where QF was still present at signiicant
fractions, GBF was characterized by ine fragmented
structure and resembled the ine-grained GBF structure
present in 0.011C steel. However, there existed locations,
where the formation of QF was locally, reduced and so-
metimes even completely eliminated, in which case the
GBF grain boundary structure seemed to be changed.
The granular like C-ESM’s were then located in the more HAGB’s in the structure than the coarser and poorly
ferrite matrix, where the boundaries consisted mainly pancaked ones. This relationship is probably a direct ef-
of LAGB’s, instead being HAGB’s, Figs. 6 c and d. The fect of different amount of accumulated strain in different
local fraction of QF was not the only factor inluencing on γ grains.
the structure of GBF. The grain boundary structure of GBF Although the average dcp and the dcp95% were slightly i-
developed inside different austenite grains seemed to be ner in 0.024C steel than 0.011C steel, the dmax was coarser
closely related with the thickness of pancaked grains, Fig. in 0.024C steel. This was attributed to the microstuctural
6 b. Fine and well pancaked γ grains seemed to exhibit heterogeneity mentioned above. In the areas, where the

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s
a
Fig. 7
OM and SEM micrographs of 0.043C steel in (a)
and (b), respectively. EBSD-OIM maps with LAGB’s coloured
as grey and HAGB’s coloured as black (c). ESBD-IQ
image showing C-ESM’s in a ferrite matrix without a close
connection of HAGB’s (d).
Micrografie OM e SEM dell’acciaio 0.043C, rispettivamente
in (a) e (b). Mappe EBSD-OIM (c) con bordi di grano a basso
angolo (LAGB) di colore grigio e bordi di grano a alto angolo
(HAGB) di colore nero. Un’ immagine EBSD-IQ (d) che mostra
microconstituenti secondari arricchiti in C (C-ESM) in una
matrice di ferrite senza una stretta relazione con HAGB.

b
GBF and BF. The QF was not the main ferrite morphology,
the fraction being only 32%, but GBF and BF were found
to dominate the microstructure with the volume fraction
of 44%. Expectably, due to the highest C content, the frac-
tion of C-ESM’s was found to be the highest (24%) among
the investigated steels.
The average dcp and dcp95% were determined as 3.4 µm and
9.5 µm, respectively, and they both were iner than the
corresponding values in the lower C counterparts. Ho-
wever, the dmax size was the coarsest among the steels
investigated (64 µm). The sizes of granular shaped
C-ESM’s were typically in the range of 1.5-2.5 µm, the
c average being 2.0 µm, but the size of the coarsest C-ESM’s
ranged from 3 µm to 5 µm.
The preservation of PAGB’s was prominent in 0.043C steel.
This was true in locations, where the QF formation was
eliminated or its formation was signiicantly suppres-
sed. Similarly to 0.024C steel, the coarsest crystallogra-
phic packets in 0.043C steel seemed to be attributed to
these “QF reduced areas”. Then GBF (and BF) structures
tended to ill grain areas from one PAGB to another.
In these cases, the C-ESM’s were located in the ferrite
matrix, where the boundaries seemed to consist mainly
of LAGB’s, Figs. 7 c and d. Further, the preservation
of PAGB’s enabled the formation of the C-ESM’s on the-
se boundaries. The C-ESM’s were found to be distributed
d on the PAGB’s in a banded like structures, as seen in Fig.
7 b.
Fig. 8 is a graphical summarisation of the inluence of C
on the microstructural characteristics of the investigated
steels. At the lowest C content the main ferrite morpholo-
gy is QF with the faction of 66%, the GBF fraction being
roughly 24%. The fraction of C-ESM is then 9%. With in-
creasing C content, the fraction of QF is reduced and
this is consequently attributed to an increase in the
fractions of GBF and BF. As a natural consequence of in-
creasing C content, also the fraction of C-ESM’s tends to
increase. In 0.043C steel, QF is no longer the main
ferrite morphology, but the microstructure is dominated
by GBF and BF. The volume fraction of C-ESM’s is now
increased beyond 20%, Fig. 8 a. The fraction of C-ESM’s
QF formation was suppressed and/or transformation was also determined by the point counting method.
took place from coarse γ grains, the GBF seemed to ill the The results were in line with the fraction determined
remaining γ and then grain boundaries in this structure by EBSD-IQ, although EBDS-IQ gave consistently so-
consisted of high fraction of LAGB’s, but only very few mewhat higher fractions than the point counting method,
consisted of HAGB’s, leading to rather coarse crystallo- as seen in Fig. 8 a.
graphic packets. The average dcp and the dcp95% sizes were slightly re-
Typical microstructure of 0.043C steel is shown in Fig. 7a. ined with increasing C content, which is consistent
The microstructure was found to consist of mixtures of QF, with lower phase transformation temperature in higher C

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 Memorie >> Acciaio

a reduced. It is important to note that steels also contain fer-

rite stabilizers such as Mo, Nb and Ti, although they may
raise the equilibrium temperature, they can also retard
PF formation to lower cooling rates and thereby enhance
steel hardenability [8]. As the reduction in C content
reduces the sensitivity of phase transformation tempe-
ratures to cooling rate, also the sensitivity of hardness
is diminished, since there exists a strong relationship
between hardness and phase transformation start tempe-
rature in this type of steels [4,6,8].
As the initiation of phase transformation in the investi-
gated steel was suppressed to temperatures of 610-650°C
that is well below the transformation temperatures for PF,
the ferrite morphology that forms irst is non-polygonal
b QF (Figs. 2 a and b), known to form in very low C
steels in the temperature range between PF and bainite
[7,8,11]. QF has often been termed as massive ferrite, a
transformation generally reported to occur in Fe-Mn al-
loys and in pure iron [7]. Massive ferrite (and therefore
QF) has been suggested to form via diffusional proces-
ses and the preferential nucleation sites being the PAGB’s
[17], which explains the absence of these boundaries in
the QF dominated microstructures. The ragged like mor-
phology of QF has been suggested to derive from aniso-
tropic growth, that may be a consequence of morpholo-
gical instability of advancing γ/α interface [18]. At the
s temperature range of QF formation no long-range diffu-
Fig.8
sion of substitutional atoms is expected, but interstitial
atoms such as C, are still highly mobile. Therefore, it is
Influence of C on (a) the volume fraction of
expected that the C partition occures from QF to residual
various ferrite morphologies and (b) the crystallographic
γ, that is consequently enriched from C. This may be the
packet and C-ESM size.
reason for the small fraction of C-ESM’s observed in
Influenza del contenuto di C: (a) sulla frazione di volume di varie
the QF, but rather high fraction in the GBF part of
morfologie di ferrite; (b) sui pacchetti cristallini e la dimensione
the microstructure. The occasionally detected C-ESM’s
di C-ESM.
inside the QF might be a consequence of entrapping
of C enriched γ between the growing QF interfaces
steels. On the other hand, dmax size is quite signiicantly in- [8]. The LAGB substructure observed inside the QF cry-
creased with C content. This can be attributed to the local stals can be thought to derive from the accommodation
elimination of QF (often in coarse γ grains) and transfor- of strains and stresses caused by transformation at lower
mation of these grains into a fully GBF and BF structures temperatures and/or mutual impingement of several QF
characterized by a rather coarse dcp. The sizes of both crystals formed by separate nucleation events or sympa-
the average and the coarsest C-ESM’s increase with C thetically [19].
content. In 0.043C steel the maximum size of C-ESM’s QF formation is often attributed to the formation of the
can reach several micrometers, whereas in 0.011C steels ferrite morphology classiied as GBF (Figs. 2 b and f). In
both average and maximum sizes are limited. low C steel (i.e. 0.011C steel) with a high fraction of QF, the
GBF was frequently found to have a ine-grained structure
DISCUSSION with well-etched boundaries consisting of HAGB’s (Figs.
5 b-d). On the other hand, in higher C steel (i.e. 0.043C)
The desired property of microstructural insensitivity to a with reduced fractions of QF, the boundaries associated
wide range of cooling rates, as observed in CCT-diagrams with the GBF frequently consisted of LAGB’s, as in Figs.
in Figs. 1 a-c, can be thought to derive from the se- 7 c and d.
lected alloying concepts. The GBF has been reported to form in the temperature
Especially, the utilization of strong austenite stabilizers, range between QF and BF [7,8,9]. In the areas where QF
such as Mn and Ni, in conjunction with the low C content, formation was locally suppressed, the PAGB’s adjacent
explains this behaviour. Both Mn and Ni expand the tem- to GBF were preserved, which indicates that it forms by
perature range for stable austenite by lowering two-phase a different mechanism as QF. It has been suggested that
region towards room temperature, which leads to a de- GBF is a product of Widmanstätten ferrite transforma-
pression of equilibrium temperatures [15]. C, although tion or that GBF is essentially the similar type of tran-
being an austenite stabilizer, can also retard decom- sformation as BF that has just undergone signiicant
position by causing a friction force between advancing coalescence of ferrite plates during its growth [8]. BF,
γ/α interface [16] that can be assumed to increase as the in turn, has been suggested to exhibit a “genuine” bainitic
cooling rate and C content increase. As the C contents in type of transformation [8], similar as proposed for con-
present steels are at low levels it is expected that the sen- ventional upper bainite in higher C steels [20].
sitivity of phase transformation to cooling rates are also The reason for the dual character of GBF is not completely

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clear, but it could be suggested that the volume change This is essentially due to their rather coarse size (typically
caused by a high temperature QF transformation in low > 1 µm) and the fact that their spacing is larger than the
C steels (such as 0.011C), causes stress and strain effects sizes of ferrite grains or laths.
in residual γ, which inluences on the way how this γ tran- Instead, the pronounced effect of C on tensile strength can
sforms into GBF. In higher C steels, the volume fraction of be understood on the basis of C-ESM’s since in a broad sen-
QF is lower and locally even completely eliminated, and se, these steels can be treated as “dual-phase” steels. It is
thereby the stress and strain effects due to the QF well established in dual-phase steels, the work hardening
formation are smaller. The GBF microstructure exhibits rate increases when the volume fraction of hard martensi-
features that are more typical for fully GBF, i.e. granular te island is increased leading to a strong increment in ten-
shaped MA’s in the ferrite matrix where the boundaries sile strength [22]. The strong increment in tensile strength
consist mainly of LAGB’s [9]. It is interesting to note that with increasing C content (Fig. 3 a) can be attributed
the GBF structure in higher C steel was also ine-grained, to the increasing work hardening rate with increasing
while GBF seemed to transform from ine and highly pan- volume fractions of hard C-ESM’s, Fig. 8 a. Reinement of
caked γ grains, which may indicate that heavy deforma- the size of MA islands, of course, leads to an increase in
tion of austenite may change the grain boundary structure the work hardening rate, but in the present case, decrease
of GBF. in the volume fraction of C-ESM’s is thought to be a domi-
In CCT studies and microstructural analysis of la- nant factor controlling the work hardening.
boratory hot rolled plates it was found that increa- Total elongation in tensile tests, i.e. fully ductile fracture,
sing C content reduced the QF fraction favouring the GBF is a function of nucleation, growth and coalesced of voids,
and BF formation. Based on the CCT-diagrams and SEM formed around the hard C-ESM particles, and it has been
and EBSD observations, the following sequence of the shown that in low C bainitic steels an increase in MA vo-
microstructure development can be assumed: γ starts to lume fraction leads to a reduction in total fracture strain
transform to QF at the early stage of cooling and then with [16].
increasing carbon content in the austenite the tendency Further, a reduction in the size of these microconstituents
of producing lath-like substructure is increased. This is known to lead to an increase in fracture strain [23]. The-
leads to the formation of GBF, and inally lath-like BF refore, it is expected that total elongation is improved with
starts to form at the interfaces at low temperatures. decreasing C content (as seen Fig. 3 a) as the size and the
The yield strength of investigated steels with QF and fraction of C-ESM’s decrease, Figs. 8 a and b.
GBF can be suggested to consist mainly of solid solution It is well established in low C bainitic steels [16] and even
strengthening and transformation strengthening [1]. better in studies on toughness of HAZ in HSLA steels [24]
Solid solution strengthening consists of strengthening that C-ESM’s, such as MA’s, are detrimental to impact
due to Peierls-Nabarro force and substitutional solid toughness properties. In general, KV(US) decreases and
solution atoms (mainly by Mn). Strengthening due to DBTT increases as the size and fraction of hard C-ESM’s
interstitial atoms, such as C and N, appears to be increase.
less signiicant, as the transformation still takes place at Especially, KV(US) is lowered as the size and volume
the temperatures where C is highly mobile and it is very fraction of hard secondary phases are increased [25], but
unlike that at times and temperatures of γ/α transforma- DBTT is also known to be deteriorated for the same reason
tion that C could be trapped inside the ferrite to such [16,25]. Therefore, the measured reduction in KV(US) with
an extent that it can cause signiicant interstitial solid increasing in C content (Fig. 3 b) can be attributed to the
solution strengthening. increase of size and fraction of C-ESM’s, Fig. 8. Further,
Furthermore, all steels contain strong nitride formers, the increase in DBTT with increasing C content, as seen
such as Ti and Nb, and therefore any strengthening Fig. 3 b, can also be partly associated with the increase of
due to “free” N is not expected. Transformation size and fraction of the C-ESM’s in the microstructure.
strengthening covers the strengthening due to LAGB’s, Good toughness of steels (especially as low DBTT)
HAGB’S and “free” dislocations that, in turn, can be consi- is often associated with high density of HAGB’s that
dered to be functions of prior γ microstructure, alloy con- are usually present in the microstructure and are benei-
tent and cooling path. Precipitation strengthening due to cial, because these boundaries act as obstacles for cleava-
ine microalloy precipitates, such as NbC, may not play a ge crack propagation. As mentioned previously, develop-
signiicant role, if any, owing to insuficient precipitation ment of EBSD technique has enabled to use the concept
kinetics deriving from the low phase transformation of crystallographic packet as the continuous set of ferrite
temperatures and rather high cooling rate above 10°C/s “grains” or “plates” with the misorientation lower
[21]. As the substitutional alloying content in the steels than a certain angle. In low C bainitic steels crystallo-
are identical and austenite conditioning and cooling were graphic packet has been established to be the microstruc-
performed in an identical manner, the only yield strength tural unit controlling the toughness properties. The criti-
increasing element is the C content. On the basis of CCT- cal misorientation is then found to be 15° [14], which is
diagrams (Figs. 1 a-c), C in the studied range, only slightly also considered as a standard misorientation for a HAGB.
retards the phase transformations to lower temperatures. It also known that toughness of ferritic steels is not as-
Thereby, it is not surprising that yield strength is only fain- sociated with average grain size or the inest grains,
tly increased by the C content in the laboratory hot rolled but the coarsest grains tend to control the toughness
plates, Fig. 3 a, since there exist a linear relation- properties [26]. Similar reasoning can be also assumed to
ship between decreasing phase transformation start apply to crystallographic packet size. It was shown in
temperature and increasing yield strength [1]. Effect of Fig. 8 b that average dcp and dcp95% are slightly reined
C-ESM’s, although being present at high fractions, on with increasing C content.
the yield strength is assumed to play a minor role. However, the dmax is quite markedly increased with

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increasing C content and thereby with increasing frac- exhibiting rather low DBTT, transition from high absor-
tion of GBF and BF. In many cases, these coarse bed energy to low absorbed energy occurred in rather
crystallographic packets can be associated with the narrow temperature range, whereas in microstructures
elimination of QF in some coarse, weakly pancaked consisting of mixtures of GF, GBF and BF, this transition
γ grains, which tend to transform into fully GBF/BF occurred over a much wider temperature range [29].
structures. These structures were then characterized by Mechanical testing of simulated CGHAZ indicated that
a high fraction of LAGB’s. Only a few of the boundaries the toughness properties are not highly sensitive to C
were HAGB’s, which means the coarse crystallographic content. Although there seem to be a general trend
packets. Therefore, it seems that the QF dominated mi- for toughness properties to deteriorate with increasing C
crostructure of 0.011C steel is iner and more uniform, as content, it is notable that lower C content did not always
seen in dmax size point of view, although the average necessarily lead to improvement in toughness. This is
dcp is iner in its higher C counterparts (i.e. 0.024C and true in the cases of DBTT and T27J. Microstructural in-
0.043C steels). vestigations are required to gain better understanding on
It is reasonable to assume that increasing size and fraction this behaviour. However, on the basis of mechanical test
of C-ESM’s, as well as the increasing size of the dmax with results it can be concluded that HAZ toughness properties
increasing C content can primarily explain the deterio- of this type of steels are quite acceptable.
ration of impact toughness properties. However, these
may not be the only microstructural change affec- AN EXAMPLE OF AN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
ting toughness that is taking place in microstructures with
increasing C content. In 0.011C steel, the QF formation Based on the results represented above, an industrial ap-
practically has eliminated the PAGB’s and C-ESM’s see- plication of thermomechanically processed shipbuilding
med to locate mainly inside the GBF part of microstruc- grade PC F500 W has been developed by Rautaruukki
ture, which, in turn, was frequently characterized by ine Oyj utilizing a very low C content approach and Si-
grains consisting of HAGB’s (i.e. ine dcp). Thereby, if the Mn-Mo-Ni-Nb-Ti alloying. The microstructure of PC
cleavage microcrack is initiated at the vicinity of C-ESM F500 W consists mainly of QF with a small fraction of
in this ine-grained GBF, its propagation is temporarily GBF. The typical target values are given in Tab. 3 [30].
halted due to the HAGB’s. For a microcrack to reach the Mechanical property statistics of PC F500 W are shown in
critical length, after which the crack can propagate in Figs. 9 a-d. The rather small scatter in the properties is due
an unstable manner, linking of neighbouring microcra- to microstructural robustness deriving from the chosen al-
ks, is required, which in turn may require the rotation of loying concept and processing route. As mentioned
the short microcraks in a shearing mode [27]. This, in turn, above low C content with suitable alloying makes
consumes energy and thereby improves toughness. the microstructure and hence the mechanical properties
Increasing C content decreased the fraction of QF and insensitive to cooling rates.
consequently favoured the formation GBF/BF and C- The weldability of PC F500 W is good. As a result of the
ESM’s. In the areas where QF ferrite formation was very low C content, the hardness of the HAZ always re-
signiicantly suppressed or even completely eliminated mains low. It is important to recognize that the weldability
(and transformation occurred from rather coarse γ grains), of these low C grades is best described by the parameter
the C-ESM’s were found to locate in SEM micrographs in Pcm, given in Tab. 1. For PC F500 W this parame-
a featureless matrix. In the EBSD maps, it was found that ter remains below 0.22, despite the high strength level
this featureless was due to location of C-ESM’s in the of the steel. The widely used IIW weldability parameter
ferrite matrix with substructure consisting of LAGB’s, CEV cannot be used to estimate the preheat requirements,
Figs. 6 c-d and 7 c-d. If the initiation of a microcrack occurs when the C content is as low as 0.04 wt-% or less. Wel-
in or around of these C-ESM’s in this type of structure, the dabilty testing of PC F500 W has shown that 50 mm
LAGB’s are not able to prevent the crack propagation and thick plates can be easily welded with the heat inputs of
the crack can readily grow reaching the critical size after 0.65-3.5 kJ/mm. The required impact toughness energy of
which the crack can propagate in an unstable manner [27]. 27 J was then fulilled at -60°C and in the cross weld ten-
In addition, the local preservation of PAGB’s in higher C sile testing, the failure always took place in the base ma-
steels enabled the formation of C-ESM’s on these bounda- terial. The maximum hardness measured in HAZ was 258
ries. The C-ESM’s were arranged in a banded like structu- HV10. In controlled thermal severity (CTS) tests, welding
res that is generally considered as a detrimental feature to at a heat input of 1 kJ/mm without preheating with
impact toughness properties [28]. an overmatching iller metal gave a maximum hardness
Although DBTT was markedly deteriorated with in- of 285 HV10 in the HAZ without any signs of hydrogen
creasing C content, T27J was only slightly affected. The cracking.
reason for this behaviour is not completely clear, but PC F500 W has been utilized in offshore and shipbuilding
is was found that in QF dominated microstructures, applications. The irst deliveries were made in 2005 in a

Thickness (mm) Rp0.2 (MPa) Rm (MPa) Total elongation (%) KV(-70°C) Min. mean/ min. indiv. (J)
18-50 500 610-770 16 60/42

▼
Tab. 3
Specified minimum tensile and Charpy-V impact toughness properties for PC F500 W.
Caratteristiche minime a trazione e Charpy V specificate per PC F500 W.

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Acciaio << Memorie

s
a
Fig. 9
Mechanical properties of PC F500 W. (a) Yield
strength, standard deviation (σ) = 16.9 MPa, (b) tensile
strength, σ = 10.7 MPa, (c) total elongation, σ = 0.7 %,
(d) Charpy-V impact toughness at -70°C with transverse
specimens at quarter-thickness position, σ = 43 J.
Caratteristiche meccaniche del PC F500 W. (a)
Snervamento, deviazione standard (σ) = 16.9 MPa; carico
di rottura, σ = 10.7 MPa; allungamento totale, σ = 0.7 %;
(d) Charpy-V a -70°C, con provini trasversali a un quarto di
spessore, σ = 43 J.

b 0.03Ti steel were investigated.

In the dilatometric experiments, it was found that
the phase transformation temperatures and hardness
values exhibit a low sensitivity to cooling rates in the
range of 0.4-48°C/s and this robustness tends even to
strengthen with decreasing C content. For a given cooling
rate, increasing C content, as expected, reduces both
phase transformation start and inish temperatures and
increases hardness, but this effect is not very pronounced.
The phase transformations in these steels take place in the
temperature range of about 640-480°C that is below the
temperature range for PF, but partially overlaps the phase
transformation temperature range of low C bainite. Micro-
c structures consist of mixtures of different forms of non-po-
lygonal, non-equilibrium ferrite and low C bainite, which
were classiied as QF, GBF and BF. It was discussed
that the insensitivity of phase transformation tempe-
ratures and hardness values to cooling rates derives from
low C contents and selected alloying contents (Mn, Ni,
etc.). This type of alloying concepts suppresses the PF
formation and favours the formation of non-polygonal
ferrite and low C bainite, such as QF and GBF, over the
wide cooling rate range.
Mechanical testing of laboratory hot rolled plates showed
that the targeted yield strength of 500MPa is exceeded
even in steel with the lowest C (i.e. 0.011C steel). Howe-
ver, C in the studied range, does not seem to have a
d pronounced effect on the yield strength, even thought
tensile is more pronouncedly inluenced. KV(US), DBTT
and KV(-60°C) are all markedly deteriorated with in-
creasing C content. However, there is no strong effect of C
on the T27J.
Mechanical testing of simulated GCHAZ’s showed that
maximum hardness of GCHAZ increased linearly with the
C content. KV(US) decreases with increasing C content,
but DBTT and T27J are not strongly dependent on the C
content and lowering of C content does not always seem
lead to an improvement in DBTT or T27J. Similarly, CTOD-
values seem to be only weakly deteriorated with increasing
C content. On the basis of these results, it was concluded
that weldability of these steels are acceptable even with the
highest C contents.
Russian jack-up offshore platform project Arkticshkaya The microstructures of the laboratory hot rolled plates con-
100 [30]. sist of mixtures of QF, GBF and BF. At the lowest C level
(0.011wt-%), QF dominates the microstructure. With in-
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS creasing C content, the fraction of QF is reduced, which
consequently increases the factions of GBF and BF. In ad-
Inluence of C in the range of 0.011-0.043 wt-% on the dition, the size and fraction of C-ESM’s tend to increase
phase transformation characteristics, mechanical proper- with increasing C content. The average dcp and dcp95%, are
ties and microstructure of 2.0Mn-0.25Mo-0.8Ni-0.05Nb- slightly reined with increasing C content, and thereby

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7] T. ARAKI and K. SHIBATA, HSLA Steels ’95, Beijing, China, 30] D. PORTER, Hitsaustekniikka, 56, (2006), p. 33

la metallurgia italiana >> luglio-agosto 2009 53

Acciaio << Memorie

ABSTRACT
EFFETTI DEL CONTENUTO DI CARBONIO SULLE risultate notevolmente peggiorate a causa di questo incremento del con-
CARATTERISTICHE DI TRASFORMAZIONE DI tenuto di C.
FASE, MICROSTRUTTURA E PROPRIETÀ DI L’analisi microstrutturale dei laminati piani a caldo ha mostrato che un
ACCIAI MICROLEGATI DI GRADO 500 MPA CON aumento nel contenuto di C ha diminuito la frazione di QF e di conse-
MICROSTRUTTURE FERRITICHE NON POLIGONALI guenza ha aumentato la frazione di GBF e BF, così come le dimensioni e
la frazione di microcostituenti secondari arricchiti in C. Inoltre, la dimen-
Parole chiave: acciaio, trasformazioni di fase, lavorazioni sione dei pacchetti cristallini più ingrossati è apparsa ridotta nell’ acciaio
platiche a caldo a basso C con microstruttura a prevalenza QF rispetto alla corrispondente
dimensione nel caso di più alto tenore di C e maggiore presenza GBF-BF,
Nel presente lavoro è stata studiata l’inluenza del carbonio nell’intervallo anche se la dimensione media del pacchetto cristallino si è presentata leg-
0,011-0,043 % (in peso) sulle caratteristiche di trasformazione di fase, germente più ine in questi acciai con più elevato tenore di C.
sulle proprietà meccaniche e sulla microstruttura dell’ acciaio Fe-2.0Mn- Le prove meccaniche sulle zone termicamente alterate a grano grossolano
0.25Mo-0.8Ni-0.05Nb-0.03Ti. Nelle indagini dilatometriche si è riscon- (coarse-grained heat affected zone - CGHAZ) simulata alla Gleeble 1500
trato che una riduzione del contenuto di C ha portato ad un aumento delle hanno evidenziato che la loro tenacità non è fortemente dipendente dal
temperature di trasformazione di fase, ha diminuito la durezza e ha pro- contenuto di C, anche se esiste una tendenza generale della tenacità a
mosso la formazione di ferrite quasi poligonale (QF) rispetto alla ferrite diminuire leggermente con l’aumento del contenuto di C. Si potrebbe con-
bainitica granulare (GBF) e alla ferrite bainitica (BF), ma nel contempo ha cludere che le caratteristiche di tenacità della ZTA di questi tipi di acciai
portato a una riduzione della sensibilità alla velocità di raffreddamento sia sono accettabili. Sulla base delle misure dilatometriche, delle prove mec-
delle temperature di trasformazione di fase e sia della durezza. caniche e delle analisi microstrutturali si può affermare che negli acciai a
Prove meccaniche su laminati piani lavorati a caldo in laboratorio hanno tenore di C molto basso con microstruttura a prevalenza QF può essere
evidenziato che il carico di snervamento di riferimento, pari a 500 MPa, è raggiunta una buona combinazione di resistenza meccanica, saldabilità e
stato raggiunto anche nell’ acciaio con contenuto di C più basso (0.011% tenacità, nonché di stabilità microstrutturale.
in peso). Un aumento del contenuto di C non innalza in modo signi- Inine, nel lavoro viene fornito un esempio di questo tipo di soluzione
icativo il carico di snervamento, anche se ha aumentato nettamente la microstutturale, che è stata utilizzata con successo in una produzione su
resistenza a trazione. Le carattetistiche di resistenza all’urto, invece, sono scala industriale di un acciaio 500 MPa da off-shore.

54 luglio-agosto 2009 << la metallurgia italiana