Effect of Tempering Temperatures on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of a Test Low-carbon Medium-manganese Steel

doi:10.11901/1005.3093.2024.464

Chinese Journal of Materials Research

2025, Vol. 39

Issue (10): 765-776 DOI: 10.11901/1005.3093.2024.464

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Effect of Tempering Temperatures on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of a Test Low-carbon Medium-manganese Steel

ZHAN Zhide¹, LIU Qiqi¹, DONG Jingwen¹^,², QI Zhen¹, LUO Xiaobing¹, CHAI Feng¹, SHI Zhongran¹(

)

1 Institute for Structul Steels, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute Company Limited, Beijing 100081, China
2 The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China

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ZHAN Zhide, LIU Qiqi, DONG Jingwen, QI Zhen, LUO Xiaobing, CHAI Feng, SHI Zhongran. Effect of Tempering Temperatures on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of a Test Low-carbon Medium-manganese Steel. Chinese Journal of Materials Research, 2025, 39(10): 765-776.

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Abstract

Hot rolled plates of a low-carbon medium-manganese test steel 4Mn (Fe-4Mn-3.5Ni-2Cu-0.05C-0.018Nb-0.018Ti, in mass fraction) were heated at 860 ^oC for 1 h and then water quenching, followed by tempering treated at 600, 640, and 670 °C for 2 h respectively. Next, the effect of tempering process on the microstructure and mechanical property of the steel plates was assessed via SEM+EBSD, XRD, TEM, pendulum impact testing machine and hydraulic tensile testing machine. The results indicate that the microstructure of the steels tempered at different temperatures is composed of tempered martensite/ferrite + reversed austenite + fresh martensite. With the increasing tempering temperature, the ultimate tensile strength and work hardening index increase sequentially, while the yield strength and low-temperature impact toughness decreases sequentially. For tempering at 600 and 640 ^oC, the increase in ultimate tensile strength is primarily due to the transformation-induced plasticity effect formed by a fresh martensite, with the improving work hardening capability of the steel gradually as the temperature rises. For tempering at 670 ^oC, the content of fresh martensite significantly increases, enhancing the work hardening capacity and further boosting the ultimate tensile strength. However, the steel becomes excessively hard and brittle, leading to premature necking and a reduction in elongation. The decrease in low-temperature impact toughness is due to two factors, on one hand the mechanical stability of reversed austenite decreases, weakening its ability to mitigate stress concentrations through transformation, resulting in a reduction in the energy required for crack initiation; on the other hand, the increase of twins and blocky reversed austenite leads to a shift in the fracture austenite grain boundaries, thereby reducing the crack propagation energy. The precipitation of Nb/TiC in steel can help refine the grain size. In addition, the Cu-rich phase coarsens with the increase of tempering temperature, significantly reducing the yield strength.

Key words: metallic materials medium manganese steel reversed austenite twin crystal copper-rich phase

Received: 25 November 2024

ZTFLH:

TG142

Fund: Major Fund Project of the Central Iron Steel Research Institute(23G60320ZD)

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	ZHAN Zhide
	LIU Qiqi
	DONG Jingwen
	QI Zhen
	LUO Xiaobing
	CHAI Feng
	SHI Zhongran

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https://www.cjmr.org/EN/10.11901/1005.3093.2024.464 OR https://www.cjmr.org/EN/Y2025/V39/I10/765

Fig.1 SEM images of quenching and tempering of 4Mn steel (a) quenched, (b) 600 ^oC, (c) 640 ^oC, (d) 670 ^oC

Fig.2 EBSD images (a-c) and reversed austenite grain size distribution (d-f) of 4Mn steel (a, d) 600 ^oC, (b, e) 640 ^oC, (c, f) 670 ^oC (Black line 15°, 2° Green line 15°)

Fig.3 XRD patterns (a) and reversed austenite content (b) of 4Mn steel

Fig.4 TEM images of 4Mn steel (a, d) 600 ^oC, (b, e) 640 ^oC, (c, f) 670 ^oC

Fig.5 Precipitated phase (a-c) and EDS (d-i) of 4Mn steel (a, d-f) 600 ^oC, (b, g, h) 640 ^oC, (c, i) 670 ^oC

Fig.6 Engineering stress-strain curves of 4Mn steel

Table 1 Tensile properties of 4Mn steel

Table 2 Low temperature impact energy and shear fracture ratio of 4Mn steel

Fig.7 Morphologies of the impact fracture of 4Mn steel at -60 ^oC (a, d) 600 ^oC, (b, e) 640 ^oC, (c, f) 670 ^oC

Fig.8 Oscillographic impact displacement-load-absorption energy curves of 4Mn steel at 600 ^oC (a), 640 ^oC (b), 670 ^oC (c), and W_i and W_p of 4Mn steel at different tempering temperatures (d)

Fig.9 STEM images (a, d) and STEM-EDS (b, c, e, f) of reversed austenitic of 4Mn steel (a-c) 600 ^oC, (d-f) 640 ^oC

Fig.10 Amount of Cu precipitated in steel during ageing process calculated by Thermo-Calc software^[39]

Fig.11 Corresponding between percentage elongation after fracture and n value of 4Mn steel (a), work hardening curves of 4Mn steel (b)

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