Microstructure–mechanical property relationship in hot-rolled high-Al-low-Si dual-phase steel

Abstract

In this study, the effect of finish rolling temperature and coiling temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-Al-low-Si dual-phase (DP) steels is explored. Two different finish rolling temperatures (850 and 790°C) and three different coiling temperatures (200, 250 and 300°C) were studied. The results indicated that all the different processing conditions led to ferritemartensite DP microstructure. With the decrease in finish rolling temperature, the volume fraction of ferrite was increased and martensite content was decreased. When the coiling temperature was increased to 300°C, autotempered martensite was obtained, which led to the softening of martensite and decrease in tensile strength and strain hardening ability, but higher post-necking elongation. Moreover, the nanoscale Nb-based carbides played a crucial role in refining the microstructure of hot-rolled high-Al-low-Si DP steel. EBSD (Electron Backscattered Diffraction) analysis revealed that the ferrite grains were fine, and decrease in finish rolling temperature and coiling temperature led to an increase in low-angle boundaries. When the finish rolling temperature was decreased to 790°C and coiling temperature was decreased to 200°C, the steel had excellent mechanical properties with tensile strength of 885 MPa, uniform and total elongation of 16.0 and 25.94%, respectively, and the product of tensile strength and total elongation was 20 264 MPa%. The improvement of strength and plasticity can be attributed to the fraction of ferrite and martensite, precipitation of NbC, fine microstructure.