• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.267-274
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• 2001

Microalloyed steels, which substituted by conventional quenched and tempered steels, have been used in a wide variety of structural and engineering application. The main driving force for preference of MA steels is a cost reduction which can be achieved by an omission of heat treatment. In this study, low carbon martensitic MA steels in 0.18C-0.30(0.60)Si-2.00(1.80)Mn-0.05S-1.5Cr-0.05(0.10)V-0.015Ti(wt%) were investigated to know the effects of cooling method on the mechanical properties and microstructures of Si, Mn, V added microalloyed steel at different reheating temperature. Microstructure of oil quenched steels which were comprised lath martensite, auto-tempered martensite and retained austenite, had more various structure than that of air cooled steel made of mainly bainite. Therefore, oil quenched steels, which had more various microstructure, had better strength-toughness balance compare to air cooled steels. In the impact test, fracture mode of oil quenched steels, which showed good mechanical properties, were dimple, but that of air cooled steels were cleavage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.431-434
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• 2008

Effects of microstructure on the toughness of low carbon HSLA steels were investigated. Nickel decreased the ferrite-austenite transformation temperature, resulted in increase of the fraction of bainitic ferrite. However, it was decreased with increasing deformation amount at austenite region. Since fine austenite grains formed by dynamic recrystallization under large strain transformed to acicular ferrite or granular bainite rather than bainitic ferrite. The effective grain size, thus, was decreased by deformation and it resulted in lower ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT). The bainitic ferrite was thought to inhibit the fracture crack initiation and to delay the crack propagation by its high dislocation density and hard interlath $2^{nd}$ phase constituents, respectively. Thus, DBTT was also decreased by Ni addition in low carbon HSLA steels.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.798-806
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• 2010

The effects of alloying elements and the cooling condition on the microstructure, tensile properties, and Charpy impact properties of high-strength bainitic steel plates fabricated by a controlled rolling process were investigated in the present study. Eight kinds of steel plates were fabricated by varying C, Cr, and Nb additions under two different cooling rates, and their microstructures and tensile and Charpy impact properties were evaluated. The microstructures present in the steels increased in the order of granular bainite, acicular ferrite, bainitic ferrite, and martensite as the carbon equivalent or cooling rate increased, which resulted in a decrease in the ductility and Charpy absorbed energy. The steels containing a considerable amount of bainitic ferrite or martensite showed very high strengths, together with good ductility and Charpy absorbed energy. In order to achieve the best combination of strength, ductility, and Charpy absorbed energy, granular bainite and acicular ferrite were properly included in the high-strength bainitic steels by controlling the carbon equivalent and cooling rate, while about 50 vol.% of bainitic ferrite or martensite was maintained to maintain the high strength.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.67-73
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• 2002

In an attempt to evaluate the feasibility of friction stir welding(FSW) for joining carbon steels, microstructures and mechanical properties of friction stir welded carbon steels with different grain structures were investigated. In comparison of O-type stir zone(SZ) appeared in various aluminium alloys, configuration of SZ in friction stir welded carbon steels displayed U-type. Plastically deformed pearlite band structure was identified to surround the SZ, indicating the existence of so-called thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ). However, the TMAZ of carbon steels was much narrower than that of Al alloys. The microstructures of both stir zone and TMAZ revealed bainite matrix in a conventional carbon steel for shipbuilding, while, in the same region, ferrite matrix microstructures were formed in a low carbon fine grained steel. The conventional carbon steel showed superior stirring workability to that of the fine grained carbon steel. The yield and tensile strength of the friction stir welded joints were comparable to those of the base metals, and the elongation in welded joints demonstrated excellent ductility. Absorbed energy in SZ of the fine grained carbon steel was ten times higher than that obtained from conventional submerged arc weld metal of the same steel. Based on these results, the application FSW to carbon steels was found to be feasible.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.117-122
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• 2006

Hydrogen permeation measurements have been carried out on API X65 grade linepipe steel. In order to study the effect of steel microstructure on hydrogen diffusion behavior in linepipe steel, the accelerated cooling condition was applied and then three different kinds of microstructures were obtained. Hydrogen permeation measurement has been performed in reference to modified ISO17081 (2004) and ZIS Z3113 method. Hydrogen trapping parameters in these steels were evaluated in terms of the effective diffusivity ($D_{eff}$), permeability ($J_{ss}L$) and the amount of diffusible hydrogen. In this study, microstructures which affect both hydrogen trapping and diffusion were degenerated pearlite (DP), acicular ferrite (AF), bainite and martensite/austenite constituents (MA). The low $D_{eff}$ and $J_{ss}L$ mean that more hydrogen can be trapped reversibly or irreversibly and the corresponding steel microstructure is dominant hydrogen trapping site. The large amount of diffusible hydrogen means that corresponding steel microstructure is predominantly reversible. The results of this study suggest that the hydrogen trapping efficiency increases in the order of DP, bainite and AF, while AF is the most efficient reversible trap.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.346-354
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• 2000

Effect of Nb addition on the phase transformation behavior was studied through continuous cooling transformation tests after reheating(reheating CCT) and deforming(deforming CCT) the 0.07%C-1.3%Mn-0.015%Ti-(0~0.08)% Nb steels. Transformation temperatures for deforming CCT were lower than those for reheating CCT, and the critical cooling rate for bainite transformation during deforming CCT was lower than that during reheating CCT. These enhanced hardenability for deforming CCT was considered to come from the sufficient solid solution of Nb in austenite during high temperature reheating before deformation. With Nb addition, the phase transformation temperature decreased, the bainite formation was enhanced, and the hardness of steel increased. Furthermore, these phenomena were more remarkable for deforming CCT than for reheating CCT. From the results, Nb-Ti bearing low carbon steel was considered to be a very favorable alloy system with good strength/toughness balance by recrystallization control rolling process.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2014

In the past, cold crack was commonly observed in the HAZ(heat affected zone) of high-strength steels. Applying to TMCP(thermo-mechanical controlled process) and HSLA(high strength low alloy) steels, cold crack tends to increase the occurrence in the weld metal. It is generally understood that cold crack occurs when the following factors are present simultaneously : diffusible hydrogen in the weld metal, a susceptible microstructure and residual stress. In particular, many studies investigated the microstructural effect on the cold crack in HAZ and the cold crack in weld metals starts to receive the special attendance in modern times. The purpose of the study is to review the effect of weld microstructures (grain boundary ferrite, Widm$\ddot{a}$nstatten ferrite, acicular ferrite, bainite and martensite) on cold crack in the weld metals. Among various microstructures of weld metals, acicular ferrite produced the greatest resistance to the cold crack due to the fine interlocking nature and high-angle grain boundary of the microstructure.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.520-525
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• 2014

Effects of Cu and B on effective grain size and low-temperature toughness of thermo-mechanically processed high-strength bainitic steels were investigated in this study. The microstructure of the steel specimens was analyzed using optical, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy; their effective grain size was also characterized by electron back-scattered diffraction. To evaluate the strength and low-temperature toughness, tensile and Charpy impact tests were carried out. The specimens were composed of various low-temperature transformation products such as granular bainite (GB), degenerated upper bainite (DUB), lower bainite (LB), and lath marteniste (LM), dependent on the addition of Cu and B. The addition of Cu slightly increased the yield and tensile strength, but substantially deteriorated the low-temperature toughness because of the higher volume fraction of DUB with a large effective grain size. The specimen containing both Cu and B had the highest strength, but showed worse low-temperature toughness of higher ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and lower absorbed energy because it mostly consisted of LB and LM. In the B-added specimen, on the other hand, it was possible to obtain the best combination of high strength and good low-temperature toughness by decreasing the overall effective grain size via the appropriate formation of different low-temperature transformation products containing GB, DUB, and LB/LM.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.522-527
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• 2018

This study investigates the effects of isothermal holding temperature and time on the microstructure, hardness and Charpy impact properties of medium-carbon bainitic steel specimens. Medium-carbon steel specimens with different bainitic microstructures are fabricated by varying the isothermal conditions and their microstructures are characterized using OM, SEM and EBSD analysis. Hardness and Charpy impact tests are also performed to examine the correlation of microstructure and mechanical properties. The microstructural analysis results reveal that granular bainite, bainitic ferrite, lath martensite and retained austenite form differently in the specimens. The volume fraction of granular bainite and bainitic ferrite increases as the isothermal holding temperature increases, which decreases the hardness of specimens isothermally heat-treated at $300^{\circ}C$ or higher. The specimens isothermally heat-treated at $250^{\circ}C$ exhibit the highest hardness due to the formation of lath martensite, irrespective of isothermal holding time. The Charpy impact test results indicate that increasing isothermal holding time improves the impact toughness because of the increase in volume fraction of granular bainite and bainitic ferrite, which have a relatively soft microstructure compared to lath martensite for specimens isothermally heat-treated at $250^{\circ}C$ and $300^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.194-202
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• 2010

Application of a stronger and more durable material for reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) might be an effective way to insure the integrity and increase the efficiency of nuclear power plants. A series of research projects to apply the SA508 Gr.4 steel in ASME code to RPVs are in progress because of its excellent strength and durability compared to commercial RPV steel (SA508 Gr.3 steel). In this study, the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of SA508 Gr.3 Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel and SA508 Gr.4N Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel were investigated. The differences in the stable phases between these two low alloy steels were evaluated by means of a thermodynamic calculation using ThermoCalc. They were then compared to microstructural features and correlated with mechanical properties. Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel shows the upper bainite structure that has coarse cementite in the lath boundaries. However, Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel shows the mixture of lower bainite and tempered martensite structure that homogeneously precipitates the small carbides such as $M_{23}C_6$ and $M_7C_3$ due to an increase of hardenability and Cr addition. In the mechanical properties, Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel has higher strength and toughness than Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel. Ni and Cr additions increase the strength by solid solution hardening. In addition, microstructural changes from upper bainite to tempered martensite improve the strength of the low alloy steel by grain refining effect, and the changes in the precipitation behavior by Cr addition improve the ductile-brittle transition behavior along with a toughening effect of Ni addition.