Materials Transactions, Vol. 52, No. 1 (2011) pp.

8 to 11
#2011 The Japan Institute of Metals

Dynamic Strain Induced Transformation of Austenite to Ferrite

during High Temperature Extrusion of Low Carbon Steel
M. Shaban, S. Gozalzadeh and B. Eghbali*
Department of Materials Science Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, P.O.Box 51335-1996, Tabriz, Iran

Ultra fine grained materials exhibit superior mechanical properties compared with the conventional coarse grained one. In the present
work, the hot extrusion process was conducted on plain low carbon steel to achieve ultra fine ferritic structure. At first, with the aid of 3D finite
element simulation an appropriate preheating temperature for the initiation of dynamic strain induced transformation of austenite to ferrite was
predicted to be 930
C. After hot extrusion, the results of microstructural analysis by optical microscopy showed that the predicted temperature
was suitable. Extruded samples showed ultra fine ferrite structure with average grain size of 1 mm on a plane perpendicular to material flow. Also,
the microstructural developments with strain in the extrusion zone confirmed the occurrence of dynamic strain induced transformation of
austenite to ferrite during deformation process. Tensile strength of processed steel is two times higher than coarse grained one.
[doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2010287]

(Received August 30, 2010; Accepted October 19, 2010; Published December 25, 2010)
Keywords: ultra fine ferrite (UFF) steel, dynamic strain induced transformation (DSIT), hot extrusion, finite element method (FEM)

1. Introduction

Refinement of ferrite grains is a promising way to

simultaneously improve both the tensile strength and tough-
ness of steels.1) Up to now, several different thermo-
mechanical controlled processing (TMCP) routes have been
conducted in steel industry to refine ferrite grains.2–8)
However, the grain refinement during TMCP is limited to
5 mm.8,9) In the last decade, researchers have developed new
thermo-mechanical processes to produce fine ferrite grains in
the range of 1–3 mm.10–13) Among these approaches, ultra
fine ferrite (UFF) formation through dynamic strain induced
transformation of austenite to ferrite (DSIT) is a simple and
most effective way.9,10) DSIT includes transformation of
austenite to ferrite during rather than after deformation. It
has been found that plastic strain increases the austenite to Fig. 1 Principles of dynamic strain induced transformation during defor-
ferrite transformation temperature (Ar3 ).14) Therefore, if steel mation at constant temperature.14)
is deformed at temperatures just above Ar3 , the trans-
formation temperature increases and reaches to deformation Table 1 Chemical composition of investigated steel (mass%).
temperature provided that the sufficient amount of plastic
C Si Mn S P Al N
strain can be imposed on austenite phase. In these con-
ditions, ferrite phase is dynamically formed during defor- 0.033 0.12 0.8 0.008 0.007 0.024 0.0038
mation process. The principles of DSIT are shown in Fig. 1.
The critical strain in the range of 0.1 to 0.8 is required for
initiation of DSIT.14) The critical temperature for DSIT is 2. Materials and Experimental Procedure
usually just above the Ar3 temperature. It has also been
demonstrated that DSIT can occur if deformation applied in The chemical composition of investigated steel is shown
the austenite metastable temperature range between Ae3 and in Table 1. Material was received as hot rolled plate. Then,
Ar3 .15) Since so far, the hot torsion tests under close control cylindrical samples with 14 mm diameter and 40 mm length
of strain, strain rate and temperature have been used to were cut from plate so that the rolling direction aligned in
produce UFF structures through DSIT in plain low carbon the longitudinal axes of samples. At first, the appropriate
and micro-alloyed steels.10,11) Therefore, it is for the first preheating temperature was defined using 3D finite element
time that the occurrence of DSIT during hot extrusion and method (FEM). Stress-strain data, obtained by hot torsion
the resultant UFF formation is reported in the present testing in the temperature range of 650 to 950
C, were used
research. as mechanical properties of initial samples. Other physical
properties and heat transfer parameters used in the FEM
simulation are presented in Table 2. Also, the friction
*Corresponding author, E-mail: eghbali@sut.ac.ir coefficient between die channel wall and samples was
 Dynamic Strain Induced Transformation of Austenite to Ferrite during High Temperature Extrusion of Low Carbon Steel 9

Table 2 Physical properties and heat transfer parameters used in the FEM
simulation.

Heat transfer by Emissivity Factor 1

radiation Ambient Temperature (
C) 13
Heat transfer by Film Coefficient (W/m2 .
C) 10
convection Sink Temperature (
C) 13
Interface Pressure (MPa) Conductivity (W/m2 .
C)
0 500
Heat transfer by 0.03 900
conduction 0.85 4000
14 6500
85 7500
Density (kg/m3 ) 7800
Other Physical
Specific Heat 460 Fig. 3 Hydrostatic pressure variations during hot extrusion process
properties
(corresponds to point D in Fig. 2).
Conductivity (W/m2 .
C) 51

3. Results and Discussions

3.1 Prediction of preheating temperature

3D finite element simulation was used to predict the
appropriate preheating temperature in order to trigger DSIT
during extrusion process. Initially, differential scanning
calorimetry was used to measure the critical transformation
temperatures. The Ar1 and Ar3 were found to be 745 and
835
C, respectively. The Ae3 temperature (equilibrium
austenite to ferrite transformation temperature) calculated
A with thermodynamic parameters on the paraequilibrium
B condition is 880
C at atmosphere pressure (105 Pas,
C
0.1 MPa). It should be noticed that hydrostatic pressure can
affect the
!  transformation temperature (Ae3 and Ar3 ).
D If the variations of hydrostatic pressure during extrusion
process can be calculated, the variations of Ae3 and Ar3 will
be defined by the following equation:16)

dT=dP ¼ 110
K/GPa ð1Þ

Fig. 2 2D Schematic view of the extrusion die.
selected to be 0.05 in the FEM simulation. Die and extrusion
facilities were then designed and fabricated from hot working
tool steel. Cylindrical samples were heated to predefined
temperature for 20 min and then inserted into the channel of
cold extrusion die. Figure 2 shows the 2D view of the die
used here. The extrusion ratio and die semi angle are 4 : 1 and
35
, respectively. Solid lubricant in the base of ultra fine
graphite was used to reduce the friction between work-piece
and die channel wall. The extrusion process was performed
with punch traveling at the rate of 10 mms1 . Samples were
air cooled after completion of deformation process. Extruded
samples were then cut into pieces on plane parallel and
perpendicular to material flow direction within the channel.
Optical microscopy was used to investigate the microstruc-
tural evolutions during hot deformation process. For this
propose, samples were mounted, sandpapered, polished and
etched with 2% nital solution. Mechanical properties of
processed UFF steel were evaluated using room temperature
tensile testing.
where T is temperature in Kelvin and P is hydrostatic
pressure in GPa. The evolution of hydrostatic pressure with
time was calculated using 3D FEM simulation and is shown
in Fig. 3. Some different preheating temperatures (above
Ae3 ) were estimated and selected as starting billet temper-
ature in the finite element simulation. FEM simulation was
performed at each selected temperature. The summary of
FEM analysis is shown in Fig. 4. The variations of critical
temperatures (Ae3 , Ar3 ) and equivalent plastic strain are also
depicted in mentioned figure. As can be seen, the sample
temperature is always above Ae3 if the preheating temper-
ature is selected as 960
C. Also at 900
C, the most of plastic
deformation is imposed on sample below Ar3 temperature.
Therefore, dynamic strain induced transformation of austen-
ite to ferrite cannot initiate at these temperatures. However,
at 930
C the sample temperature is between Ae3 -Ar3 and
DSIT is possible if the sufficient amount of plastic strain can
be imposed on austenite phase during extrusion process. It
has been shown that the critical strain for initiation of DSIT
in the case of plain low carbon and micro-alloyed steels is
between 0.1 and 0.8 depending on chemical composition of
steel.14) As shown in Fig. 4, the maximum plastic strain of 1.5
10 M. Shaban, S. Gozalzadeh and B. Eghbali
Fig. 4 Temperature variations of sample during extrusion at each selected
preheating temperature.
Fig. 6 Optical micrographs showing the initial microstructure (a), extruded structure on parallel plane (b), and perpendicular plane (c) to
the material flow direction inside die channel.
is imposed on samples during extrusion process. Therefore,
the occurrence of DSIT at 930
C is confirmed with the aid of
FEM simulation.
3.2 Temperature and strain distribution within the
sample
Figure 5(a) shows the plastic strain distribution inside an
extruded sample. As it is seen, plastic strain is not uniformly
distributed inside a sample. Plastic strain values are higher at
near surface regions as a result of friction between samples
and die channel wall. Temperature distribution inside the
extruded sample is also shown in Fig. 5(b). Sample temper-
ature is non uniform similar to plastic strain distribution. In
addition, central regions have a higher temperature than near
surface regions.
3.3 Microstructural observations
Figure 6 represents the initial and as extruded micro-
structure of specimens. As can be seen, initial microstructure
is consisted of 95% ferrite with average grain size of 32 mm
and remaining pearlite (Fig. 6(a)). Microstructure of de-
formed sample (corresponds to point D in Fig. 2) on parallel
plane is consisted of ultra fine ferrite grains with average
grain size of 2.2 mm (Fig. 6(b)). Microstructure on a plane
perpendicular to material flow direction is very uniform and
comprise ferrite grains with average size of 1 mm (Fig. 6(c)).
These observations confirm that a very effective grain
Fig. 5 (a) equivalent plastic strain, and (b) temperature distributions inside
the extruded sample with preheating temperature of 930
C.
refinement takes place during high temperature deformation
of carbon steel. The only possible grain refinement mecha-
nism at such a high extrusion temperature is dynamic strain
induced transformation of austenite to ferrite. A detailed
microstructural observation at extrusion zone can disclose the
occurrence of DSIT during extrusion process. Figure 7
represents optical micrographs showing the microstractural
evolutions with the amount of strain. The bright phase is
ferrite and dark phase is martensite which is transformed
from austenite during cooling under severe pressure. At
" ¼ 0:2 (corresponds to point A in Fig. 2), ferrite phase
is appeared as a narrow bands along prior austenite grain
boundaries (Fig. 7(a)). With increasing strain to 0.6 (corre-
sponds to point B in Fig. 2), ferrite grains on austenite
boundaries become fine and more equiaxed. Also, some new
equiaxed ferrite grains are observed inside prior austenite
grains (Fig. 7(b)). With the progress of austenite to ferrite
transformation, some austenite areas adjacent to the newly
formed
= interface are produced due to the subsequent
deformation and become preferable for ferrite nucleation.
New ferrite layers originate close to the
= interface and
then grow into the austenite interior (Figs. 7(b) and (c)).
3.4 Mechanical properties
Figure 8 shows the room temperature nominal stress-strain
curves of steel in both as-received and extruded conditions.
Extruded steel with average grain size of about 1 mm displays
 Dynamic Strain Induced Transformation of Austenite to Ferrite during High Temperature Extrusion of Low Carbon Steel
Fig. 7 Development of DSIT with strain at extrusion zone from point A to C in Fig. 2.
Fig. 8 The room temperature nominal stress-strain curves of specimens
before and after extrusion.
a tensile strength two times higher than that of conventional
coarse grained (d ¼ 32 mm) one. However, the tensile
ductility and strain hardening rate is found to be decreased
with decreasing grain size. Low tensile ductility can be
attributed to the onset of deformation instability at an early
stage of deformation and is clearly linked to the low work
hardening rates. This is a common issue for ultra fine grained
materials because the smaller grain size inhibits the disloca-
tion generation and storage necessary for work hardening.17)
It was expected that materials that display higher work
hardening rates normally display delayed necking and
consequently have an increase in the strain to failure.
4. Conclusions
In the present research, low carbon steel was subjected to
hot extrusion with preheating temperature of 930
C. Pre-
heating temperature was defined using 3D FEM simulation.
The results show that after hot extrusion a very uniform UFF
structure with ferrite grain size of 1 mm is obtained on a plane
11
perpendicular to material flow direction inside a channel.
Also, microstructural observations in the extrusion zone
confirm the occurrence of DSIT and shows that the preheat-
ing temperature defined by FEM simulation is suitable.
Finally, the tensile testing shows that the UFF steel has a
tensile strength two times higher than that of as received one.
Therefore, it is for the first time that the occurrence of DSIT
during hot extrusion of plain low carbon steel is reported.
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