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High Strength and Retained Ductility Achieved in a Nitrided Strip Cast Nb-Microalloyed Steel

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Abstract

The current study investigates the strengthening of an Nb-microallyed CASTRIP® steel at 798 K (525 °C) by nitriding in a KNO3 salt bath. Nitriding up to 1 hour dramatically increased the yield strength of the steel by ~35 pct (from 475 to 645 MPa) with no sacrifice of ductility (~16 pct). Further nitriding led to brittle fracture. Hardness profiles of the nitrided steels through the thickness reveal hard surfaces and a relatively softer core. The hardening of the shell in the nitrided steels is thought to be the combined effect of solid solution strengthening from nitrogen and dispersion strengthening from clusters and precipitates. The retained ductility is attributed to the hard-shell–soft-core structure through nitriding.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs. Yanbo Wang, Hung-Wei Yen, Dave Mitchell, and Jinyu Guo for fruitful discussions. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the Australian Research Council and BlueScope Steels. The authors are also grateful to the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF) at The University of Sydney for their scientific and technical inputs and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Kelvin Y. Xie (Ph.D. Student), Sachin L. Shrestha (Ph.D. Student), Peter J. Felfer (Ph.D. Student), Julie M. Cairney (Associate Professor) & Simon P. Ringer (Professor)

  2. School of Aeronautical, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Kelvin Y. Xie (Ph.D. Student), Sachin L. Shrestha (Ph.D. Student), Peter J. Felfer (Ph.D. Student), Julie M. Cairney (Associate Professor) & Simon P. Ringer (Professor)

  3. Metallurgical Technology, BlueScope Steel, Five Island Rd., Port Kembla, NSW, 2500, Australia

    Chris R. Killmore (Product Design Manager), Kristin R. Carpenter (Product Development Metallurgist) & Harold R. Kaul (Senior Product Development Officer)

Authors
  1. Kelvin Y. Xie
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  2. Sachin L. Shrestha
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  3. Peter J. Felfer
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  4. Julie M. Cairney
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  5. Chris R. Killmore
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  6. Kristin R. Carpenter
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  7. Harold R. Kaul
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  8. Simon P. Ringer
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Correspondence to Kelvin Y. Xie or Simon P. Ringer.

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Manuscript submitted May 21, 2012.

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Xie, K.Y., Shrestha, S.L., Felfer, P.J. et al. High Strength and Retained Ductility Achieved in a Nitrided Strip Cast Nb-Microalloyed Steel. Metall Mater Trans A 44, 848–855 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-012-1446-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-012-1446-4

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