Noriyuki Tsuchida

The effects of pre-strain on the mechanical properties of high-strength martensitic steels were investigated using either strain tempering (ST) or quenching and tempering (QT) samples. In the tensile tests at deformation temperatures between 296 and 573 K, the ST sample exhibited an increase in both the tensile strength (TS) and uniform elongation (U.El) at 473 to 523 K, whereas the QT sample showed an increase in U.El with little change in the TS and yield strength (YS). The results of in situ neutron diffraction experiments revealed an increase in the stress partitioning to the bcc phase with an increase in the deformation temperature from 296 to 523 K. The difference in the phase stress between the bcc and cementite phases decreased with an increase in the temperature due to the decrease in the cementite strength. Pre-strain of 0.5% increased the YS at 296 K with a slight work hardening; the initial dislocation density (ρ) decreased at 523 K, but increased significantly after yielding, leading to a better combination of TS and U.El. The combination of pre-strain, tempering, and deformation temperatures caused the change in ρ before deformation and the increase in ρ after yielding of the martensitic steel.

Deformation-induced martensitic transformation (DIMT) during tensile or compressive deformations of the bainitic steels with various carbon content (0.15%C, 0.25%C, 0.62%C) was studied. The initial microstructure before the deformation tests was prepared by the austempering at 400°C to obtain bainitic structure consisting of bainitic ferrite and retained austenite. The volume fraction of the retained austenite was larger in the bainitic steel with the larger carbon content. In all of the bainitic steels, the tensile deformation exhibited larger work hardening than the compression. This difference indicates the suppression of the DIMT at the compression, and actually the measurements of electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) confirmed the less reduction of retained austenite at the compression of all the bainitic steels. Additionally, the steel with the highest carbon content was examined by in situ neutron diffraction and clarified the difference similar to that obtained by the EBSD measurement. The regression of the relation between the fraction of austenite and applied strain with the conventional empirical equation revealed that the kinetic of DIMT is strongly dependent with the stress polarity, but not significantly changed by the carbon content. The mechanism of the DIMT dependence of the stress polarity was discussed with the deformation texture and the crystallographic orientation dependence of DIMT.

Effects of pre-strain and tempering on mechanical properties in high-strength martensitic steels were investigated. In this study, strain tempering (ST) and quenching and tempering (QT) martensitic steels were prepared, and their mechanical properties were studied. In the tensile tests at the deformation temperatures between 296 and 573 K, the ST sample increased both of tensile strength (TS) and uniform elongation (U.El) from 473 to 523 K whereas the QT sample increased U.El with little change of TS. From the in situ neutron diffraction experiments, stress partitioning to the bcc phase increased with an increase in the deformation temperature from 296 to 523 K. The difference of phase stress between the bcc and cementite phases decreased with increasing the temperature because of a decrease in the cementite strength. In the ST sample, Pre-straining of 0.5% increased YS at 296 K with slight work hardening. The initial value of dislocation density (ρ) decreased at 523 K but ρ increased significantly after yielding, leading to better combination of TS and U.El. The combinations of pre-strain, tempering, and deformation temperatures have changed ρ before deformation and the increase of ρ after yielding of the martensitic steels.