Abstract
Heat-treatment-free steels have been replacing for conventional quenched-and-tempered structural steels since the microalloyed forging steel was developed in early 1970s in Germany. Substantial cost reduction provides the driving force for this change. As a result of intensive R & D efforts and application trials, various kinds of grades, for example heat-treatment-free steels for hot forging, machining and cold heading, have been developed and moreover these steels are in tonnage production throughout the world. The developments in alloy steels, processing conditions and structure-property characteristics of the heat-treatment-free steels, are described and also recent trend and future prospect are summarized in this report.