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Isothermal Transformation of a Commercial Super-Bainitic Steel: Part I Microstructural Characterization and Hardness

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Abstract

The effects of isothermal treatment on the microstructure and hardness of commercial super-bainitic steel were investigated. A series of isothermal treatments were carried out at temperatures of 210-250 °C for different time periods. The results indicate that the bainitic reaction and hardness were very sensitive to the isothermal transformation temperature. The fine super-bainitic microstructure, containing the carbide-free bainitic ferrite lath and the carbon-enriched retained austenite film, can be produced by heating to 210 °C for 30 h, resulting in a hardness of 662 HV. By increasing the isothermal transformation temperature, the bainitic transformation kinetic is accelerated; however, this is at the expense of coarsening bainitic ferrite laths and decreasing the bainitic ferrite quantity. The relationship between hardness and microstructures obtained under different isothermal treatments, which is correlated with the carbon concentration, dislocation density, bainitic amount and super-bainite size, is discussed in detail.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51171030 and 51604034), the Scientific and Technological Planning Project of Jilin Province (No. 20150520030JH) and the Scientific and Technological Research Fund of Jilin Provincial Education Department during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (No. 2015-95).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Structural Materials, Ministry of Education, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun, 130012, China

    Ying Han, Wencui Xiu & Hua Wu

  2. College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, China

    Cheng Liu

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  1. Ying Han
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  2. Wencui Xiu
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  4. Hua Wu
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Correspondence to Ying Han.

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Han, Y., Xiu, W., Liu, C. et al. Isothermal Transformation of a Commercial Super-Bainitic Steel: Part I Microstructural Characterization and Hardness. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 26, 472–477 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2473-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2473-x

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