ժҪ A new hot-rolled low carbon air-cooling bainitic steel containing 0.02%Nb has been developed based on alloying design of the grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite (FGBA)/ granular bainite (BG) duplex steel.The as-rolled microstructure and mechanical properties of 0.02%Nb bainitic steel were investigated by tensile test, X-ray diffraction(XRD),Optical Microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) ,and Transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The results show that (1) The addition of 0.02% niobium improves the strength obviously without sacrificing toughness of the FGBA/BG steel. Compared with Non-Nb FGBA/ BG steel, 0.02% Nb increases the tensile strength and yield strength about 20% (From 780Mpa to 937Mpa)and 17%(From 557Mpa to 650Mpa) respectively, remaining 18% elongation and 83J Akv. (2) Small addition of Nb(0.02%) not only refines the allotriomorphic ferrite grain but also promotes the nucleation of intragranular ferrite, both of which in turn contribute to the refinement of granular bainite cluster including its ferrite platelets and M-A islands. Compared with Non-Nb steel, the volume fraction of M-A island in 0.02%Nb steel increases from 21% to 31%, and the average size of M-A island decreases from 1.2��m to 0.95um.(3)There is hardly any Nb(C,N) has been observed in 0.02%Nb steel. It is suggested that the strengthening effect of 0.02%Nb can be mainly attributed to the influence of the segregation of Nb to ��/�� phase boundaries(solute drag-like effect) on the phase transformation rather than the precipitation strengthening of Nb(C,N).
Abstract��A new hot-rolled low carbon air-cooling bainitic steel containing 0.02%Nb has been developed based on alloying design of the grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite (FGBA)/ granular bainite (BG) duplex steel.The as-rolled microstructure and mechanical properties of 0.02%Nb bainitic steel were investigated by tensile test, X-ray diffraction(XRD),Optical Microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) ,and Transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The results show that (1) The addition of 0.02% niobium improves the strength obviously without sacrificing toughness of the FGBA/BG steel. Compared with Non-Nb FGBA/ BG steel, 0.02% Nb increases the tensile strength and yield strength about 20% (From 780Mpa to 937Mpa)and 17%(From 557Mpa to 650Mpa) respectively, remaining 18% elongation and 83J Akv. (2) Small addition of Nb(0.02%) not only refines the allotriomorphic ferrite grain but also promotes the nucleation of intragranular ferrite, both of which in turn contribute to the refinement of granular bainite cluster including its ferrite platelets and M-A islands. Compared with Non-Nb steel, the volume fraction of M-A island in 0.02%Nb steel increases from 21% to 31%, and the average size of M-A island decreases from 1.2��m to 0.95um.(3)There is hardly any Nb(C,N) has been observed in 0.02%Nb steel. It is suggested that the strengthening effect of 0.02%Nb can be mainly attributed to the influence of the segregation of Nb to ��/�� phase boundaries(solute drag-like effect) on the phase transformation rather than the precipitation strengthening of Nb(C,N).
2010, Vol. 17 
