Effects of Thermo-Mechanical Process on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Low Carbon HSLA Steels

Effects of deformation at austenite region and cooling rate on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low carbon (0.06 wt. % C) high strength low alloy steels have been investigated. Average grain size decreased and polygonal ferrite transformation promoted with increasing deformation amount at austenite region due to increase of ferrite nucleation site. Microstructure was also influenced by cooling rate resulting in the development of a mixture of fine polygonal ferrite and acicular ferrite at 10 degrees C/s cooling rate. Discontinuous yielding occurred in highly deformed specimen due to the formation of polygonal ferrite. However, small grain size of highly deformed specimen caused lower ductile-to-brittle transition temperature than slightly deformed specimen.