International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Vol. 1, No. 3, November !

11

The Effect of Thermo- Mechanical Treatment and Adding Niobium and Titanium on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TWIP Steel
Davood amani! Abbas Na"afi#adeh! $ossein Mona"ati! and %holmre#a &a#avi

AbstractThe effect of addition of Nb and Ti also cold rolling and annealing treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure of a twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steel have been investigated. The results indicated that addition of Nb and Ti enhances strength. lso it is considered in the case that deformation twinning is suppressed! low stac"ing fault energy and Nb and Ti precipitation causes high elongation. It is because of limiteted dynamic recovery. In addition! increasing cold rolling reduction has been increased strength. The ductility increased with increasing annealing temperature# however! strength reduced. In centric limit of partial recrystalli$ation regime! ma%imum increasing in wor" hardening capacity and also almost high yield strength has been achieved. Therefore! utili$ation of large cold rolling reduction and subse&uently annealing treatment in the centric limit of partial recrystalli$ation region was suggested as an effective method to obtain TWIP steel with an e%cellent combination of strength and ductility. Index TermsTWIP steel! Nb! recrystalli$ation! cold rolling! annealing. Ti! partial

I' INT&(D)*TI(N An+ vehicle must satisf+ four primar+ criteria! sometimes referred to the SA,E criteria- safet+! affordabilit+! fuel efficienc+! and environmental friendliness./0' To achieve the need of vehicles! the steel industr+ 1ill constantl+ ma2e progress' The e3tensive use of light 1eight construction materials is the 2e+ method b+ 1hich the goal of vehicle 1eight reduction can be achieved' The development of steels for a variet+ of automotive applications is focused on an increase of strength combined 1ith the preservation or improvement of its ductilit+' The increase of strength enables car manufacturers to reduce the 1eight of the car! 1hereas the increase of ductilit+ allo1s for more comple3 car design .40'
&ecentl+! T1inning Induced Plasticit+ 5TWIP6 steels containing 47-87 1t 9 Mn 1ith small additions of Al! and Si have been developed as a promising material for automotive applications .80! .:0' The high Mn content stabilises austenite
Manuscript received (ctober ;! 4<//= revised November 4<! 4<//' D' amani! $' Mona"ati! and %' &' &a#avi are 1ith Department of Materials Science and Engineering! Na"afabad >ranch! Islamic A#ad )niversit+! Isfahan! Iran 5e-mail- Davi#amani?%mail'com= Mona"ati?%mail'com= &e#a'&a#avi@:?%mail'com6' A' Na"afi#adeh is 1ith Department of Materials Science and Engineering! Isfahan universit+ of technolog+! Isfahan! Iran 5e-mailAbbas'na"afi#adeh?%mail'com6'

at room temperature and produces a single phase face centred cubic 5,**6 steel 1ith lo1 stac2ing fault energ+ 5S,E6 bet1een /7-:< mABm4' TWIP steels are characterised b+ high strain hardening rates leading to ultimate tensile strengths of @<<-/<<< MPa and total elongations e3ceeding 7<9 .70' E3tensive studies have been carried out to understand the 1or2 hardening behavior of lo1 S,E metals and allo+s as 1ell as TWIP steels' It is believed that formation of mechanical t1ins during deformation leads to an increase in the instantaneous 1or2 hardening rate' In other 1ords! t1in boundaries act as strong obstacles for subseCuence movement of dislocations' As a result! the ductilit+ is improved b+ the retardation of local nec2ing .70! .@0' The achievement of this combination of mechanical properties challenges the conventional perception of an inverse relationship bet1een strength and ductilit+ and occurs mainl+ via the lo1ered S,E producing substantial t1inning during plastic deformation' $o1ever! the +ield strength of TWIP steels is relativel+ lo1 .;0' (n the other hand! there are some 1a+ to improve it 1hich are mentioned belo1(ne 1a+ has been suggested b+ >oua#i# et al. .D0'

The+ found that mechanical t1ins have a thermal stabilit+ during recover+ treatment 5e'g' holding at 7<< E* for 8'@ 2s6 and so mechanical t1in boundaries contribute to the strengthening of metal 5"ust li2e grain boundaries6 during further deformation 1hile ductilit+ is improved b+ decreasing dislocation densit+ as a result of recover+ treatment' Another 1a+ that has been suggested b+ Wang et al' .F0 have been confirmed that a bimodal grain si#e distribution consisting of a mi3ture of both ultrafine and fine grains ma+ be also effective in achieving the best combination of strength-ductilit+ in ultrafine grained materials' Moreover! it has been mentioned that addition of Nb and Ti microadditions to steels could form dispersive nitrides! carbonitrides and carbides 1hich are the cause of additional precipitation strengthening 1hat has a particular meaning for steels 1ith austenitic matri3 and relativel+ lo1 +ield stress ./<0' Therefore! the aim of this stud+ is to clarif+ the mechanical properties of TWIP steel 1ith utili#ation of three methods that mentioned above' ,or this propose! after evaluate of effect of adding Nb and Ti! the effect of cold rolling reduction and annealing temperature on the mechanical properties and microstructural evolutions of ,eG8/MnG:Si-4Al-Nb-Ti TWIP steel 1ere investigated'

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International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Vol. 1, No. 3, November !11

II' EHPE&IMENTAI A 8< 2g and a /< 2g ingot! 1hose chemical composition can be found in TA>IE I! 1as prepared b+ vacuum induction melting! then homogeni#ed at //<< E* for 8'@ 2s in an argon atmosphere! after that plates 1ere hotrolled to reduction of 7<9 at the temperatures bet1een //<< and F<< J*' To isolate the influence of Nb and Ti 1ere prepared samples 1ith coled rolled reduction of 7<9 and subseCuentl+ annealed at ;7< E* from both steels' In order to obtain samples 1ith different cold rolling reductions and recovered-to-full+ recr+stalli#ed structures! the hot-rolled plate of ,e8/Mn-:Si-4Al-Nb-Ti steel 1as coldrolled at room temperature to reductions of 7<9! @79 and D<9! and subseCuentl+ annealed at 77<E*! @<<E*! @7<E*! ;<<E* and ;7< E* for /'D 2s and then air-cooled
TA>IE I- *$EMI*AI *(MP(SITI(NS (, INKESTI%ATED STEEI 5WT 96 'e ( )n l /'FL<' / 4L<'/ *i 8';L<' / 8';L'<' /

lo1er 1or2 hardening rate than steel 1ithout Nb and Ti' Mechanical t1in boundaries act as obstacles to the dislocation movement 5li2e grain boundaries6 .//0' &eduction of 1or2 hardening rate as a result of adding Nb and Ti! despite of their cumulative effect on 1or2 hardening rate! has sho1n that the mechanical t1inning 1as significantl+ suppressed b+ the precipitations of these elements' Moreover! ,ig' / has illustrated total elongation of the steel containing Nb and Ti that the mean grain si#e is 4Mm is about 7<9' In contrast! investigations ./40! ./80 have indicated submicron ,** steels 1ith high S,E and >** steels e3hibit about a fe1 percent total elongation' Additionall+! Dini et al. have confirmed deformation t1inning 1as strongl+ inhibited b+ grain refinement! and it has considered that Nb and Ti precipitation act as obstacles to form mechanical t1inning' *onseCuentl+! mechanical t1inning is not the reason of the high obtained elongation'

>al' >al'

<'/8 <'/ 8

8/'7L<'7 84'7L<'7

Tensile tests 1ere carried out 1ith a strain rate of /<-8 s-/ using test pieces 1hich 1ere prepared according to ASTM EDM at room temperature' All tensile test samples 1ere cut along the rolling direction 5&D6' Microstructural evaluations 1ere conducted b+ the optical microscop+ 5(M6 and scanning electron microscop+ 5SEM6' stress-Engineering strain curves of ,e-8/Mn-:Si-4Al and ,e-8/Mn-:Si4Al-Nb-Ti steel after 7<9 cold rolling and annealing at ;7<E* for /D<< seconds'

III' &ES)IT AND DIS*)SSI(N ,ig' / sho1s the Engineering

5a6

,ig' /' Engineering stress-Engineering strain curves of ,e -8/Mn-:Si-4Al and ,e-8/Mn:Si-4Al-Nb-Ti TWIP steel 1ith 7<9 cold reduction and annealed at ;7<E* for /'D 2s'

5b6

It is observed that the steel containing Nb and Ti has greater tensile strength and +ield strength than the steel 1ithout Nb and Ti' (ptical observation sho1ed that the steel containing Nb and Ti have smaller grain si#e' It has been reported .@0 that grain si#e reduction and also precipitation hardening of Nb and Ti precipitations! cause the strengthening of steels' (n the other hand! steel containing Nb and Ti has sho1n

5c6 ,ig' 4' Engineering stressEngineering strain curves of ,e-8/Mn-:Si4Al-Nb-Ti TWIP steel 1ith different cold rolling reductions 5&6 and annealed at various temperatures for /'D 2s a6 &ND<9 b6 &N@79 c6 &N7<9'

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International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Vol. 1, No. 3, November !11

The uniform elongation can be e3plained b+ the nec2ing instabilit+ condition ./:0' The condition of nec2ing propagation in a tensile test is e3pressed b+ the instabilit+ criterion 5i'e'! d/d<). When the work hardening rate is equal to the , uniform elongation stops and nec2ing is initiated' Therefore! the high uniform elongation reCuires the high 1or2 hardening during tensile deformation' The strengthening due to Nb and Ti precipitate and restricted d+namic recover+ due to the lo1 S,E! leads to a higher instantaneous 1or2 hardening 5a slo1 decrease in 1or2 hardening rate6 and enhances the uniform elongation via retardation of local nec2ing' ,ig' 4 sho1s the Engineering stress-Engineering strain curves of ,e-8/Mn-:Si-4Al-Nb-Ti TWIP steel after 7<! @7 and D<9 cold rolling reduction and annealing at Temperature range of 77<E* to ;7<E*' In as-rolled samples! strength increases 1ith increasing the cold rolling reduction' Increasing annealing temperature reduces the strength and increase the total elongation' ,ig' 8 sho1s the microstructure of samples! 1hich is 7<9 cold rolled and annealed at @<<E*! ;<<E* and ;7<E* for /'D 2s'

5a6

,ig' 85a6 5recover+ region6 sho1s the recovered microstructure sample containing mechanical t1in' ,ig' 85b6 5partial recr+stalli#ation region6 sho1s the recr+stalli#ed grains in matri3 containing mechanical t1in! 1hich is in agreement 1ith the observations of >oua#i# et al. .D0 on an ,eG449MnG<'@9* TWIP steel' ,ig' 85c6 has onl+ the small amount of the unrecr+stalli#ed area' The results of hardness tests and also optical observations sho1ed that the starting temperatures of recr+stalli#ation of 7<9! @79 and D<9 cold rolled samples are @4<E*! @:<E* and @7<E* respectivel+ and ending temperatures of recr+stalli#ation are ;4< E*! ;7< E* and ;;7 E* respectivel+' As-rolled samples and recovered samples provide the higher +ield strength' >ut the ductilit+ in this condition is ver+ lo1' The ma3imum value of total elongation is appro3imatel+ 4<9! 1hich is occurred in D<9 cold rolled and annealed sample at @<<E*' The increase in ductilit+! attributed to the microstructural changes due to the annihilation of dislocations and formation of sub-boundries' (n the other hand! the +ield strength decreases significantl+ 1ith annealing samples in grain gro1th region' With the formation of ne1

grains during recr+stalli#ation heat treatment! formed mechanical t1in during the cold rolling are lost and severel+ reduce the +ield strength' It is observed that annealed samples in partial recr+stalli#ation region! provide acceptable +ield strengths' (btained microstructure 1ith annealling in this temperature range consists of mechanical t1in and also recr+stalli#ed grains 5,igure 8b6' Therefore! mechanical t1ins contribute in strengthening and on the contrar+! recr+stalli#ed grains lead to increasing ductilit+' With increasing annealing temperature the recr+stalli#ed fraction increases and as results ductilit+ increases! but strength decreases' (n the other hand! 1or2 hardening capacit+ is one of the important parameters in Industrial applications .@0' Wor2 hardening capacit+ 5)TSOTEI6 provides a good agreement bet1een tensile strength and ductilit+' In order to have a better comparison! the 1or2 hardening capacit+Ps values has been present in ,ig' :' It is observed that! b+ annealing in the centric partial recr+stalli#ation region 5@7<E* to ;<<E*6 significant increase in the 1or2 hardening capacit+ occurs'

5b6

;7<

temperatures'

5c6 ,ig' 8' SEM images of 7<9 cold rolled and annealed samples for /'D 2s at a6 @<< b6 ;<< c6

,ig' :' The comparison bet1een ductilit+ and strength 5i'e'! TEI vs' )TS6 of TWIPsteel samples 1ith D<9 colled rolled reduction and annealed for /'D 2s at various temperature'

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International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Vol. 1, No. 3, November !11

IK' *(N*I)SI(N Despite the suppression of forming the mechanical t1in! adding Microallo+ elements Nb and Ti to ,e-8/Mn:Si-4Al TWIP steel increase the tensile strength and the +ield strength of cold rolled and annealed sample' Moreover! Nb and Ti precipitation and lo1 S,E is identified as reasons for high obtained elongation' In addition! b+ increasing cold rolling reduction! the strengthening effect of the areas that are not recr+stalli#ed during annealing in partial recr+stalli#ation region increase' (n the other hand! b+ increasing annealing temperature ductilit+ increases' In contrast! b+ increasing the annealing temperature to grain gro1th region! significant drop in +ield strength occurs' In addition! annealing in centric partial recr+stalli#ation region has the greatest increase in 1or2 hardening capacit+' *onseCuentl+! utili#ation of large cold rolling reduction on Microallo+ed TWIP steel 5,e-8/Mn-:Si4Al-Nb-Ti6 and subseCuentl+ annealing treatment in the centric limit of partial recr+stalli#ation region 1as suggested as an effective method to obtain TWIP steel 1ith an e3cellent combination of tensile strength! +ield strength and ductilit+' &E,E&EN*ES

steel- The role of grain si#e!S Materials and $esi&n, vol 8/! pp' 88F7G8:<4! 4</<'

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S' Tang! Q' S' Aung! A' $' Aun! and Q' T' Iee! REffects of recr+stalli#ation annealing temperature on carbide precipitation! microstructure! and mechanical properties in ,eG/DMnG<'@*G /'7Al TWIP steel!S Materials "cience and %n&ineerin&, vol' 74;! pp' ;:7G;7/! 4</<' (' >oua#i#! *' P' Scott! and %' Petitgand! RNanostructured steel 1ith high 1or2hardening b+ the e3ploitation of the thermal stabilit+ of mechanicall+ induced t1ins!S "cripta Materialia! vol @<! pp' ;/:G;/@! 4<<F' Q' Wang! M' *hen! ,' hou! and E' Ma! R$igh tensile ductilit+ in a nanostructured metal!S Nature, vol' :/F! pp' F/4GF/7! 4<<4' I' Schindler! M' Aanosec! E' Mistec2+! P' Suchane2! REffect of cold rolling and annealing on mechanical properties of $SIA steel!S Archives Materials "cience and %n&ineerin&, vol 8@! pp' :/-:;! 4<<F' %' Dini! &' )e"i! A' Na"afi#adeh! S' M' MonirKaghefi! R,lo1 stress anal+sis of TWIP steel via the H&D measurement of dislocation

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A' Ivoditov! M' M' Per2as! A' E' Shelest! and K' S' Qusupov! RMaterials science in automobile design!S "teel in #ranslation, vol' 8D! no' /<! pp' D;@GDD<! 4<<D' A' S' $amada! RManufacturing! mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of high-Mn TWIP steels!S Ph.$. #hesis! )niversit+ of (ulu! ,inland! 4<<;' (' %rassel! I' Truger! %' ,romme+er! and IW' Me+er! R$igh strength ,eGMnG5Al! Si6 T&IPBTWIP steels development U properties U application!S International Journal of Plasticity! vol' /@/! pp' 8F/:<F! 4<<< %' ,romme+er! )' >ru3! and P' Neumann! RSupra-ductile and high-strength manganese T&IPBTWIP steels for high energ+ absorption purposes!S I"IJ International! vol' :8! no'8! pp' :8D-::@! 4<<8 D' >' Santos! A' A' Saleh! A' A' %a#der! A' *arman! D' M' Duarte! A'S' &ibeiro! > M' %on#ale#! and E' K' Pereloma! REffect of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cold rolled ,e4:Mn-8Al-4Si-/Ni-<'<@* TWIP steel!S Materials "cience and %n&ineerin& A! vol' 74D! pp' 87:7-8777! 4<//' D' %' Na"afi#adeh! A' &' )e"i! S' M' Monirvaghefi! RTensile deformation behavior of high manganese austenitic

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densit+!S Materials "cience and %n&ineerin&, A vol' 74;! pp' 4;7FG4;@8! 4</<'

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&' )e"i! N' Tsuchid! D' Terad! N' Tsu"i! Q' Tana2a! A' Ta2emura! and T' Tunishige! RTensile Properties and t1inning behavior of high manganese austenitic steel 1ith fine-grained structure!S "cripta Materials, vol' 7F! pp' F@8-F@@! 4<<D' &' Song! D' Ponge! D' &aabe! A' %' Speer! and D' T' Matloc2! R(vervie1 of processing! microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrafine grained bcc steels!S Materials "cience and %n&ineerin&, vol' ::/! pp' /G/;! 4<<@' Dieter %E' Mechanical Metallur&y. 8rd ed' Ne1 Qor2- Mc%ra1-$ill! /FD@'
+avood ,amani 1as born in Isfahan BIran on September! /FD8' $e received the diploma Degree in ph+sics and mathematics from Pou+a School! IsfahanBIran in 4<</ and the M'Sc' degrees in Identification and selection of engineering materialsfrom Materials science and engineering Department! Islamic A#ad )niversit+! na"afabad >ranch! Isfahan! Iran' $e has man+ published articles on cold rolling! annealing treatment and

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1as born in Isfahan Iran on March! /F;8' $e received the diploma Degree in ph+sics and mathematics from high School! IsfahanBIran in /FF< and the >Sc' degrees in Materials Engineering from Na"afabad )niversit+ Isfahan! Iran and MSc and PhD Degrees in materials engineering from Tarbiat modares )niversit+ of Tehran! Iran' $e has received man+ a1ards that can be pointed to several cases belo1&eceiving a pri#e for the 1or2shop teaching in the /8th international conference of po1er generation s+stems! D-/< Nov' /FFD! Tehran
/holam 0e$a 0a$avi! 1as born in Shahre2ord Iran on August! /FD7' $e received the diploma Degree in ph+sics and mathematics from &ahbar School! Shahre2ordBIran in 4<<8 and the M'Sc' degrees in Identification and selection of engineering materialsfrom Materials science and engineering Department! Islamic A#ad )niversit+! na"afabad >ranch! Isfahan! Iran' In 4<//! $e has man+ published articles on &oll bonding steel to titanium and Thermo mechanical $igh MnSteel

corrosion behavior of TWIP steels'

bbas na-afi$adeh 1as born in Isfahan BIran on March! /F:F' $e received the diploma Degree in ph+sics and mathematics from high School! IsfahanBIran in /F@; and the >Sc' degrees in Metallurgical Eng' Sharif )niversit+ of Technolog+! Tehran! Iran and Ms' Mechanical Metallurg+ )niversit+ Pierre et Marie *urrie Paris Paris! ,rance in /F;@! Ph'D' Mechanical Metallurg+ )niversit+ Pierre et Marie *urrie Paris!

,rance in /FD<' $e has man+ published articles on Thermomechanical Processing= ,ailure Anal+sis! $ot and *old Deformation of Metals= *ontrolled &olling and ,orging= Accelerate *ooling Austempered Ductile Iron! Development of Ne1 Allo+s' .ossein )ona-ati!

Such as TWIP Steel' Eng' &a#avi 1or2 in

Shahre-Tord )niversit+ in Iran'

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