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Effect of Mn, Si and Cr on spheroidization of cementite in Fe-1mass%C steel has been investigated over a range of austenitizing temperatures. In Fe-1C steel, a fully spheroidized structure is obtained but some large cementite particles are formed. The addition of 1.5 mass% Si or Cr accelerates spheroidization of cementite. An addition of Cr remarkably refine the cementite particle size, but the influence of Si addition on the cementite particle size is not remarkable. A fully spheroidized structure fails to develop in steel with the addition of 1.5% Mn under the condition used in present study. Some lamellar cementite still exist in the 1.5Mn steel. The pearlite-promoting effect of Mn is possibly attributed to the inhomogeneous distribution of cementite particles during the intercritical austenitization.

Pearlite spheroidisation of 100CrMn6 steel was investigated. This process is well known and studied during conventional soft annealing. Presented paper describes cementite lamellae fragmentation during accelerated carbide spheroidisation. Mechanism of cementite lamellae fragmentation during conventional soft annealing depends on carbon and iron diffusion in ferrite-cementite system. On the other hand, accelerated carbide spheroidisation relies on partial pearlite austenitization and backward austenite decomposition. Aim of presented experiments was to examine shape evolution of cementite particles during transition from lamellar to globular form. Pearlite spheroidisation is normally quantified by image analysis of 2D metallographic section. Conventional metallographic observation was used for globular-lamellar particle ratio estimation. However, whole lamellae observation is necessary for spheroidisation process revelation. Ferrite matrix deep etching and cementite separation was performed to study morphological aspects of acceolerated carbide spheroidisation.

In this study ductile cast iron plates were welded by tungsten inert gas process (TIG). The objective was to evaluate the effect of filler metals; current welding and post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of joints. Metallographic examination of welded plates showed three different zones: fusion zone with a dendritic structure, heat affected zone with mixture of martensite and ledeburite structure and ferritic-pearlitic structure in base metal. Microstructure of welded area changes drastically to acicular ausferrite when the PWHT was applied. Corrosion rates values of 4.5 mpy were obtained in plates welded with E-FeNiCI filler metal and current of 125 and 150 A; this value is approximately half of the ones obtained in the ductile cast iron (10.5 mpy). These results are associated with: a good chemical compatibility of the filler material and ductile cast iron, increases of Ni content, refinement of the structure and a higher dissolution of graphite nodules that mitigate graphitic corrosion mechanism. The PWHT plates showed a slightly decrease in corrosion rates. In particular, plates welded with E-FeNiCI filler material and 125 A of current intensities exhibited the best corrosion resistance (3.75 mpy). This phenomenon can be attributed to homogenization of nickel in the weld bead forming passive layers that increase the corrosion resistance.

The evolution of microstructure with degree of deformation in a deformed wedge shaped hypereutectoid steel implement, containing 1.84 C, 0.06 Si, 0.01 S, 0.14 P, 0.11 Cu, 0.017 Zr and 0.05 Ce, has been characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). Microstructures consisted of bulky carbides dispersed in a matrix of pearlitic, with grain boundary proeutectoid cementite, side plate Widmanstatten cementite and intragranular cementite were noted in region of low strain. The cast structure was broken down with increasing degree of deformation. The mechanism for the formation of spheroidization of cementite in hypereutectoid steel has been proposed. Microstructural analysis of high strain region consists of fine equiaxed ferrite grains surrounded by high angle boundaries.

The influence of silicon on the spheroidization of cementite in hypereutectoid 1.0C-1.45Cr bearing steels has been investigated, on the basis of microstructural analysis and thermodynamic calculations. The silicon content was varied 0.25 to 2.00 in weight percent. Annealed at 790∼850°C for 6 hr, the 0.25Si and 1.00Si steels were entirely spheroidized at 790°C, while 1.50Si and 2.00Si steels at 830°C, respectively. This implies that the increase of silicon content in hypereutectoid steels retards the spheoridization of cementite. The thermodynamic calculations revealed that silicon atoms were partitioned into not cementite but austenite at annealing temperatures, and the increase of silicon content can raise the chemical potential of carbon atoms within austenite at austenite/cementite interfaces, causing the decrease of driving force for the diffusion of carbon atoms from cementite to austenite.

It is very important to understand interstitial carbon behaviors in cold rolled steel to get the good formability as well as the high strength. In low carbon steel, most of carbons are consumed by the formation of grain boundary cementite during cooling. During heating and holding between Ae1 and Ae3, cementite is dissolved and consequently carbon enriched austenite is formed. By controlled cooling, retained austenite as well as bainite and martensite are formed. In this study, the effect of silicon, intercritical annealing, isothermal bainite transformation on the formation of ferritic bainite, cementite and retained austenite are modeled by nucleation and growth, diffusion and dissolution. In addition, the formation of retained austenite and their carbon contents are modeled and compared with experimental data.

The first step in the heat-treatment processes for a vast majority of commercial steels is austenitization. There is much less research put in this field comparing to the cooling transformation, but the interest is continuously increasing especially in view of the development of TRIP and Dual-phase steels. The microstructural evolution during continuous heating experiments has been studied for a series of C-Mn steels with carbon contents in the range 0.35-0.45 wt. % using optical and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy. It is shown that the formation of the austenitic phase is possible in pearlitic as well as in ferritic regions, although in the former it proceeds at a much faster rate due to the shorter diffusion distances. Thus a considerable overlap in time of the ferriteto- austenite and the pearlite-to-austenite transformations is likely to occur. Another observation that was made during the experiments is that depending on the heating rate, the pearlite-to-austenite transformation can proceed in either one or two steps. At low heating rates (0.05 °C/s) ferrite and cementite plates transform simultaneously. At higher heating rates (20 °C/s) it is a two-step process: first ferrite transforms to austenite within pearlite grains and then the dissolution of the cementite lamellae takes place.

Microstructures formed by degenerate pearlite transformation in an Fe-0.38mass%C alloy were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Degenerate pearlite which contains fine cementite particles even at the growth front was observed with other structures such as proeutectoid ferrite, lamellar pearlite and bainite in a temperature range between 773K and 923K. As the isothermal transformation temperature is lowered, a fraction of the degenerate pearlite increases. The degenerate pearlite consists of ‘block’ (a region in which ferrite orientations are nearly the same) and ‘colony’ (a region containing cementite particles of nearly the same orientation), both of which are similar to those in lamellar pearlite. Block boundaries within an austenite grain are generally of high-angle type and their misorientations deviate largely from intervariant relationships for the K-S orientation relationship. In contrast, colony boundaries are of low-angle type. Cementite films are formed along those ferrite boundaries in the degenerate pearlite, presumably formed by encounter of the blocks or colonies.

The precipitation behavior of cementite in low carbon steels at various heating rates from 0.3 to 100 K/s has been studied using a high-frequency induction heating apparatus. The materials used in this study were steel platesfor welded structures: 610 and 780 MPa class steel plates with a mixed microstructure of bainite and martensite.Cementite was observed using a carbon extraction replica method and the hardness and toughness were also examined. When heated at the conventional slow rate of 0.3 K/s, relatively large cementite particles with an average diameter of 72 nm precipitated at the lath boundaries, whereas when heated at a rapid rate over 3.0 K/s, cementite precipitated both within the laths and at the lath boundaries, and the cementite was refined down to an average diameter of 54 nm. With such refinement of the cementite, the toughness was improved. On the other hand, the hardness was irrespective of the heating rate and was dependent on the tempering parameter. TEM observations of the cementite precipitation behavior during the rapid heating process revealed that cementite begins to precipitate at the lath boundaries at about 773 K and within the laths at about 873 K. It is concluded that rapid heating especially from 773 to 873 K contributes to the cementite refinement and consequently the improvement in toughness. The effect of alloying elements such as chromium, molybdenum or silicon on the cementite growth during the rapid heating and tempering treatment is also discussed.

Dissolution behavior of cementite in eutectoid steels with pearlitic and spheroidite structures by severe plastic deformation was studied. Applying a long time milling, cementite dissolved completely and matrix turned out to be nanocrystalline ferrite. By a ball drop deformation (at high strain rates), heavily deformed layers in which cementite dissolves completely or partially were produced. By applying pulsed laser irradiation, re-austenitized zone which transformed to fresh martensite during quenching was produced. The boundary between the re-austenitized zone and matrix exhibited similar microstructure with that observed in specimens subjected to a ball drop deformation. It was suggested that the dissolution of cementite by heavy deformation at high strain rates are probably due to thermal effect, that is, re-austenitization.

The plasma surface alloying low-alloy high speed steel (HSS) is carried out in vacuum chamber where a source electrode (W-Mo) and a work piece are properly placed. By using the sputter of glow-discharge, under the common function of electric field and temperature field, ?????? the desired alloying elements (W- Mo) are sputtered from the source cathode, traveling toward the substrate. Subsequently the alloying elements deposit onto the surface of the substrate, forming alloy diffusion layer which the depth may vary from several micron to several hundreds micron. In the end a surface low-alloy HSS steel would be produced after ultra-saturation ion carbonization. The composition of the alloyed layer is equal or similar with it of low-alloy HSS. The carbonized layer, without coarse eutectic ledeburite structure, possesses high density of finely and dispersed alloy carbides with tungsten equivalent 10% above and a significant improvement in surface hardness and wear resistance. The principle of plasma surface alloying and its test results and commercial products application are introduced in this paper.

Deformation and dissolution behavior of the cementite in eutectoid steels with pearlitic and spheroidite structures were studied using high resolution SEM and AFM. Cementite lamellae in deformed pearlite exhibited inhomogeneous slip, smooth thinning or necking, fragmentation and cleavage fracture. Complete dissolution of cementite lamellae and spheroidal cementite particles was observed in specimens deformed with large strains at high strain rates. The dissolution mechanism of cementite by heavy deformation was discussed.

The deformation behavior of cementite was studied using eutectoid steels with pearlitic and spheroidite structures and fine grained bulk cementite prepared by sintering the mechanically alloyed powders. Cementite lamellae in deformed pearlite exhibited inhomogeneous slip, thinning by deck-of-cards slip, homogeneous bending, fragmentation, cleavage fracture and cracking by shear bands. Complete dissolution of cementite lamellae and spheroidal cementite was also observed in specimens deformed at high strain rates. The polycrystalline bulk cementite is brittle and fractures within elastic limit when deformed below 573 K. However, large plastic deformation was observed when compressed at high temperatures (over 773 K) and low strain rates (10 -5 ~ 10 -3 s -1 ). The artificial pearlite was successfully fabricated by hot compression starting from the