74 DOI 10.

1007/s11595-006-1074-1

Vol.23 No.1 LI Zhuang et al: Influence of Hot Rolling Conditions on the...

Influence of Hot Rolling Conditions on the Mechanical Properties of Hot Rolled TRIP Steel
(1. Department of Materials Engineering, Shenyang Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Shenyang 110034, China; 2. The State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China) Abstract: Influence of hot rolling conditions on the mechanical properties of hot rolled TRIP steel was investigated. Thermomechanical control processing (TMCP) was conducted by using a laboratory hot rolling mill, in which three different kinds of finish rolling temperatures were applied. The results show that polygonal ferrite, granular bainite and larger amount of stabilized retained austenite can be obtained by controlled rolling processes. The finer ferrite grain size is produced through the deformation induced transformation during deformation rather than after deformation, which affects the mechanical properties of hot rolled TRIP steel. Mechanical properties increase with decreasing finish rolling temperature due to the stabilization of retained austenite. Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), total elongation (TEL) and the product of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation (UTSTEL) reaches optimal values (791 MPa, 36% and 28 476 MPa%, respectively) when the specimen was hot rolled for 50% reduction at finish rolling temperature of 700 . Key words: hot rolling conditions; retained austenite; hot rolled TRIP steels; mechanical properties

LI Zhuang1,2, WU Di2

1 Introduction
Transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels was first introduced by Zackay et al[1] in austenitic stainless steels. However, large additions of costly alloying elements and the accompanying troublesome process make it difficult to employ this phenomenon in manufacturing cost-effective steel sheets for automotive use. Therefore, several researchers have focused their work on the investigation of less expensive TRIP grades. This resulted in the development of C-MnSi TRIP steels [2,3]. Generally, the microstructure of multiphase TRIP steels containing a significant amount of stable retained austenite is generated by standard two stages heat-treatment [2-4]. The two stage consist in an intercritical annealing and austempering at the bainite transformation temperature. The majority of the studies concerned with high strength cold-rolled TRIP steel sheets, take into account the benefit of the heat treatment. The multiphase TRIP steels have been extensively studied in the cold-rolled and annealed state [2-4] . However, it is troublesome process for steel sheets
(Received: March 22,2006; Accepted: Oct.10, 2007) LI Zhuang(): Assoc. Prof.; Ph D; E-mail: Lizhuang20047@163.com Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50334010) and the Program of Education Branch of Liaoning Province of China(No. 2006B075)

to be heat-treated on the run-out table. These TRIP steels are not well suited to the industrial practice for automotive manufacturing. Thermomechanical controlled processing (TMCP) eliminates the need for further heat treatments. The multiphased TRIP steel microstructures are obtained by direct hot rolling subsequent austempering [5-7]. 400 is an optimum austempering temperature, at which temperature the sheet is coiled[7]. In the present study, austempering after hot rolling without subsequent heat treatment was conducted by means of a laboratory hot rolling mill and a salt bath. Microstructures of three different kinds of finish rolling temperatures for the hot rolled multiphase TRIP steel was observed in detail, and the mechanical properties of them were examined. Furthermore, the mechanism of TRIP effects in the hot rolled multiphase TRIP steel is discussed.

2 Experimental
The experimental 80120800 mm thickness steel plate was vacuum melted and forged. The chemical composition of the multiphase steel is given in Table 1. Cylindrical specimens, 15 mm in length and 8 mm in diameter, were machined from the slab. The Tnr, which denotes the austenite nonrecrystallization temperature and CCT diagram were measured using a Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical simulator by corresponding doublepass compression testing (Fig.1). First the slab was hot-rolled down to 20 mm by

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a 450 hot rolling mill, and then machined to form the plates of 1720650 mm, and finally hot-rolled down to 2.0 mm in thickness by a 180 hot rolling mill. The processing schedule is shown in Table 2. After austenitizing at 1 020 for 300 seconds, the specimens were deformed to Pass (1) and Pass (2) compressive strain at cooling rate 50 /s during the austenite recrystallised region, and then deformed to Pass (3) and Pass (4) at cooling rate 50 /s in the low-temperature nonrecrystallization region or the two-phase region (austenite plus ferrite), respectively (Table 2). Specimens were controlled rolled interval during four pass deformation in hot rolling to attain three different finish rolling temperature of 700 , 750 , 800 . After finish rolling, specimens were cooled at 10 /s to the accelerated-cooling start temperature of 520-540 in order to obtain an amount of polygonal ferrite. This was followed by a salt bath (50%KNO3+50%NaNO3) quench where the specimen was held isothermally for 20 min at 400 , to transform the austenite to bainite. Finally, the

image analysis software of Leica on colour etched cross sections of the specimens. The microstructure was investigated further by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a SSX-550 microscope. More detailed microstructural characterization was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a EM 400T microscope. X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out using a D/max 2400 diffractometer equipped with the monochromator and Cu K radiation to determine the volume fraction of retained austenite (V) with the

modified Millers method[9]. Where I and I are the integrated intensities of the (200) and (211) peaks and the (200), (220) and (311) peaks, respectively.

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Microstructure and mechanical properties The influence of finish rolling temperature on the mechanical properties of the multiphase TRIP steels is remarkable. The relation between mechanical properties and finish rolling temperature of the

specimens were air cooled to room temperature. Tensile tests were carried out by using an INSTRON 4206 machine in order to study the mechanical properties of the present steel. Transverse sections of the specimens before and after tensile testing for light optical microscopy (LOM) were polished and etched with 4% nital. These specimens for LOM were also colour etched using the LePera method [8]. The bainite fractions were assessed with

specimens is shown in Fig.2. In Fig.2, mechanical properties of the multiphase TRIP steels are very high in most cases. Mechanical properties of them increased with decreasing finish rolling temperature considerably. When they were deformed to 50% at finish rolling temperature of 700 , ultimate tensile strength (UTS), total elongation (TEL)

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Vol.23 No.1 LI Zhuang et al: Influence of Hot Rolling Conditions on the...

and the product of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation (UTSTEL) reach maximum values (791 MPa, 36% and 28 476 MPa%, respectively). After TMCP, stress-strain curves of the specimens are shown in Fig.3. In Fig.3, continuous yielding appears on the curves for all the specimens. All the curves present characteristics of intensive serrations, this is because the interrupted plastic straining occurred in the localization of the specimens during straining. The curves are prolonged after reaching the peak values, especially in the specimen at finish rolling

temperature of 700 . Hot rolling conditions affects the microstructure of hot rolled multiphase TRIP steels. The micrographs after different finish rolling temperature consist of polygonal ferrite, granular bainite and retained austenite in the hot rolled multiphase TRIP steels.

The metallographic results of the specimens for 50% reduction at various finish rolling temperature is presented in Fig.4. It can be seen from Fig.4 that the ferrite grain size decreased, and the amount of granular bainite increased somewhat with decreasing finish rolling temperature for the present steels. When the present steels were hot rolled using three different kinds of finish rolling temperatures, the microstructures contained a lot of retained austenite, which could be identified in a color etched LOM micrographs. With this etchant the various phases appear as different colours under the microscope. Microstructures variations of the specimens at different finish rolling temperature of 700 , 750 and 800 are shown in Fig.5. In Fig.5, ferrite appears grey, bainite appears black, martensite and retained austenite appear white and white martensite-austenite islands are obvious. All constituents (polygonal ferrite, granular bainite and retained austenite) can clearly be seen by SEM. Fig.6 shows typical SEM micrographs of steel (50%) after finish rolling at 800 . In Fig.6, ferrite (black), retained austenite (grey), martensite-austenite islands (white) and granular bainite is different for the specimens before and after tensile testing. Granular bainite contains some islands that are distributed in the ferrite matrix, and usually comprised of retained austenite and/or martensite/austenite constituents. Larger amount of austenite (grey) can be retained for the specimens before tensile testing, and martensite-

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austenite islands (white) increased obviously after tensile testing. The presence of retained austenite in hot rolled multiphase TRIP steels was confirmed by TEM studies. Fig.7 shows TEM micrographs of the specimen after finish rolling at 700 . In Fig.7, fine retained austenite is distributed in a bainitic ferrite matrix. Martensite was discovered on the TEM micrograph for the same specimens after tensile testing, and it was verified by its diffraction pattern (Fig.8). Retained austenite volume fraction before and after tensile testing for the steels at various finish rolling temperatures was further determined by the X-ray diffraction patterns, as shown in Table 3. In Table 3, the amount of retained austenite at necking of the specimen decreases after tensile testing. When all the specimens were broken after tensile

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Vol.23 No.1 LI Zhuang et al: Influence of Hot Rolling Conditions on the...

test, their fracture appearances exhibit toughness characteristics. The fracture morphology of the specimen finish rolled at 700 is presented in Fig. 9. In Fig. 9, a lot of dimples in the fracture morphology were found. 3.2 Deformation induced ferrite transformation during hot rolling The specimens were subjected to four pass deformation during hot rolling (Table 2), and the latter two passes were deformed in the austenite nonrecrystallization temperature (Pass (3) and Pass (4) compressive strain). Ferrite can be produced through the deformation induced transformation during deformation rather than after deformation. Weng et al [10] have pointed out that lowering deformation temperature will promote deformation induced ferrite transformation (DIFT) and reduce the ferrite grain size in the temperature range above Ar3. Under the condition of relatively lower deformation temperature, it was possible that the deformed austenite can not be recrystallized or only partially recrystallized, which creates the condition for DIFT. The deformation temperature has an influence on the ferrite nucleation sites, and the decrease of deformation temperature will enhance intragranular nucleation. The amount of finish rolling deformation was 50% for various finish rolling temperature in the present steel. A larger deformation could lead to more deformation bends within austenite grains and more ferrite fragments. The deformation bands produced by large reduction in nonrecrystallization temperature region of austenite acted as nucleation sites for ferrite formation and finally refine the ferrite grains (Figs.4, 5). Finally, better mechanical properties of hot rolled TRIP steels are exhibited, especially for the specimen at finish rolling temperature of 700 , which should be related to fine grained ferrite. 3.3 Characteristics of the retained austenite TMCP schedule can affect the retained-austenite characteristics for hot rolled TRIP steel. A larger deformation below the austenite nonrecrystallization temperature resulted in the pancaking of austenite, and this altered the substructure of the supercooled austenite [11]. Severe finish rolling reduction (50%) in the nonrecrystallized austenite region reduced the austenite grain thickness prior to transformation. After hot rolling, the prior austenite grains are fragmented by deformation bands. Smaller retained austenite contains lower potential nucleation sites for the transformation to martensite and consequently requires a greater total

driving force for the nucleation of martensite[4]. As a result, the small particles of austenite tend to be stable (Fig.7). The deformation stored energy increases with decreasing temperature for large reduction. It was reported that the retained austenite crystals present after hot rolling in the nonrecrystallized regions contained a high dislocation density inside the grains[12]. Smaller austenite size helps the retention of austenite instead of martensite formation [13], and a higher dislocation density of retained austenite contributes to an increase in the mechanical stability of the retained austenite[12]. The specimens were cooled at 10 /s to temperature of 520 to 540 after three different kinds of finish rolling temperatures, and it is just in the twophase region (austenite plus ferrite) according to CCT diagram of the steel (Fig.1). Austenite transformed to ferrite in this temperature range, and proeutectoid ferrite appeared. Therefore, a good deal of polygonal ferrite formed (Figs.3, 4, 5) The present steel contains alloying elements of Si (Table 1). Si dissolves in ferrite for it is a ferriteformation element when polygonal ferrite forms, which raises the chemical potential of carbon in ferrite and enhances carbon diffusion into austenite. When being held at bainite transformation range, austenite could be transformed to bainitic ferrite, Si efficiently suppresses the formation of cementite for it does not dissolve in cementite, and carbon diffuses into austenite further. As a result, larger amount of austenite with carbon enrichment survives the final cool to ambient temperature in multiphase TRIP steels (Figs.3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and Table 3). 3.4 The transformation of retained austenite to martensite during plastic straining TMCP is the most important factor for the stability of the metastable retained austenite against deformation induced transformation to martensite. As mentioned previously, small particles, high dislocation density and high content of C of the austenite result in the greatly increased stability of residual austenite in the present steels. The strain-induced retained austenite transformation to martensite develops gradually during tensile straining at room temperature (Figs.6, 7, 8 and Table 3), and it can be explained by the presence of larger amount of stabilized retained austenite in the microstructure. This transformation is accompanied by a volume expansion and results in a localized increase of the strain hardening coefficient during straining which delays the onset of necking and ultimately leads to a higher uniform and total elongation[4]. Moreover,

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void initiation at the matrix/second phase interface is suppressed because severe local stress at the interface is expected to be relaxed by isotropic expansion on strain-induced martensite transformation[14]. The straininduced transformation of retained austenite regime dominates during the tensile test. This is the reason why excellent mechanical properties are attained (Figs.2,9). Hot rolling conditions affect the mechanical properties of the present hot rolled TRIP steel. Hot deformation was severe at three different kinds of finish rolling temperatures. Severe deformation affects the distribution of retained austenite in the microstructure, which enhances the retained austenite stability. The mechanical stability of the retained austenite increases with decreasing finish rolling temperature. The transformation of metastable retained austenite to martensite during deformation leads to the improvement of elongation. Therefore, mechanical properties of the specimens increased with decreasing finish rolling temperature considerably. The optimum mechanical properties were obtained for 50% reduction at finish rolling temperature of 700 in hot rolled TRIP steel.

was hot rolled for 50% reduction at finish rolling temperature of 700 .

References
[1] V F Zackay, E R Parker, D Fahr. The Enhancement of Ductility on High-Strength Steels[J]. Trans. ASM, 1967, 60: 252-259 [2] D Ei, N Hoda. Effect of Cold Deformation and Multiphase Treatment Conditions on Low-Carbon, Low-Silicon Multiphase Steel[J]. Steel Res. Int., 2005, 76 (11): 822-831 [3] K I Sugimoto, B Yu, Y I Mukai, et al. Microstructure and Formability of Aluminum Bearing TRIP-aided Steels with Annealed Martensite Matrix[J]. ISIJ Int., 2005, 45 (8): 1 1941 200 [4] M D Meyer, D Vanderschueren and B C D Cooman. The Influence of the Substitution of Si by Al on the Properties of Cold Rolled C-Mn-Si TRIP Steels[J]. ISIJ Int., 1999, 39 (8): 813-822 [5] Z Li, D Wu. Effects of Hot Deformation and Subsequent Austempering on the Mechanical Properties of Si-Mn TRIP Steels[J]. ISIJ Int., 2006, 46 (1): 121-128 [6] Z Li, D Wu and J X Liu. Effects of Austempering on the Mechanical Properties of the Hot Rolled Si-Mn TRIP Steels[J]. J. Wuhan University of Technology-Mater. Sci. Ed.,2006, 21 (3): 21-25 [7] E V Pereloma, I B Timokhina, P D Hodgson. Transformation Behaviour in Thermomechanically Processed CMnSi TRIP Steels with and without Nb[J]. Mater. Sci. Eng., 1999, A273-275 (15): 448-452 [8] E Girault, P Jacques, P Harlet, et al. Metallographic Methods for Revealing the Multiphase Microstructure of TRIP-assisted Steels[J]. Mater. Characterization, 1998, 40 (2), 111-118 [9] H B Ryu, J G Speer. Effect of Thermomechanical Processing on the Retained Austenite Content in a Si-Mn TransformationInduced-Plasticity[J]. Metall. Trans. A, 2002, 33A (9): 2 8112 816 [10] Y Q Weng, X J Sun, H Dong, et al. Overview on the Theory of Deformation Induced Ferrite Transformation[J]. Iron & Steel Supplement, 2005, 40: 9-15 [11] S Yue, A Dichiro and A Z Hanzaki. Thermomechanical Processing Effects on C-Mn-Si TRIP Steels[J]. JOM, 1997, 49 (9): 59-61 [12] I B Timokhina, P D Hodgson. Effect of Deformation Schedule on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Thermomechanically Processed C-Mn-Si TransformationInduced Plasticity Steel[J]. Metall. Trans. A, 2003, 34A (8): 1 599-1 609 [13] N C Goel, J P Chakravarty and K Tangri. The Influence of Starting Microstructure on the Retention and Mechanical Stability of Austenite in an Intercritically Annealed-Low Alloy Dual-Phase Steel[J]. Metall. Trans. A, 1987, 18A (1): 5-9 [14] K I Sugimoto, M Kobayashi and S I Hashimoto. Ductility and Strain-Induced Transformation in a High-Strength Transformation-Induced Plasticity-Aided Dual-Phase Steel[J]. Metall. Trans., 1992, 23A (11): 3 085-3 091

4 Conclusions
a) Hot rolling conditions influences the microstructure of the multiphase TRIP steels, polygonal ferrite, and granular bainite, and larger amount of stabilized retained austenite can be obtained. The strain-induced transformation of retained austenite regime dominates during straining at room temperature. b) The finer ferrite grain size can be produced through the deformation induced transformation during deformation rather than after deformation. DIFT can affect the mechanical properties of hot rolled TRIP steel. c) Mechanical properties increase with decreasing finish rolling temperature for the stabilization of austenite due to refined particle, higher dislocation density and C enrichment. Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), total elongation (TEL) and the product of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation (UTS TEL) reached optimal values (791 MPa, 36% and 28 476 MPa%, respectively) when the specimen