In this study, the effects of Co content on the microstructure and Charpy impact properties of Fe-Cr-W ferritic/martensitic oxide dispersion strengthened (F/M ODS) steels are investigated. F/M ODS steels with 0–5 wt% Co are fabricated by mechanical alloying, followed by hot isostatic pressing, hot-rolling, and normalizing/tempering heat treatment. All the steels commonly exhibit two-phase microstructures consisting of ferrite and tempered martensite. The volume fraction of ferrite increases with the increase in the Co content, since the Co element considerably lowers the hardenability of the F/M ODS steel. Despite the lowest volume fraction of tempered martensite, the F/M ODS steel with 5 wt% Co shows the highest micro-Vickers hardness, owing to the solid solution-hardening effect of the alloyed Co. The high hardness of the steel improves the resistance to fracture initiation, thereby resulting in the enhanced fracture initiation energy in a Charpy impact test at – 40oC. Furthermore, the addition of Co suppresses the formation of coarse oxide inclusions in the F/M ODS steel, while simultaneously providing a high resistance to fracture propagation. Owing to these combined effects of Co, the Charpy impact energy of the F/M ODS steel increases gradually with the increase in the Co content.

In this study, effects of carbon and nickel on microstructure and low temperature Charpy impact properties of HSLA (high strength low alloy) steels are investigated. To understand the complex phase transformation behavior of HSLA steels with high strength and toughness before and after welding processes, three kinds of HSLA steels are fabricated by varying the carbon and nickel content. Microstructure analysis, low temperature Charpy impact test, and Vickers hardness test are performed for the base metals and CGHAZ (coarse-grain heat affected zone) specimens. The specimens with the lowest carbon and nickel content have the highest volume fraction of AF, the lowest volume fraction of GB, and the smallest GB packet size. So, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the CGHAZ specimen is the highest. The specimens with increased carbon and nickel content have the lowest volume fraction of AF, the highest volume fraction of GB, and the largest GB packet size. So, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the CGHAZ specimen is the lowest.

In this study, the correlation between microstructure and Charpy impact properties of FCAW(Flux cored arc welding) HAZ(Heat affected zone) of thick steel plates for offshore platforms was investigated. The 1/4 thickness(1/4t) location HAZ specimen had a higher volume fraction of bainite and finer grain size of acicular ferrite than those of the 1/2 thickness (1/2t) location HAZ specimen because of the post heat effect during the continuous FCAW process. The Charpy impact energy at -20 oC of the 1/4t location HAZ specimen was lower than that of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen because of the high volume fraction of coarse bainite. The Charpy impact energy at -40 and -60 oC of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen were higher than those of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen because the ductile fracture occurred in the fine acicular ferrite and martensite regions. In the ductile fracture mode, the deformed regions were observed in fine acicular ferrite and martensite regions. In the brittle fracture mode, long crack propagation path was observed in bainite regions.

The effect of C, Mn, and Al additions on the tensile and Charpy impact properties of austenitic high-manganese steels for cryogenic applications is investigated in terms of the deformation mechanism dependent on stacking fault energy and austenite stability. The addition of the alloying elements usually increases the stacking fault energy, which is calculated using a modified thermodynamic model. Although the yield strength of austenitic high-manganese steels is increased by the addition of the alloying elements, the tensile strength is significantly affected by the deformation mechanism associated with stacking fault energy because of grain size refinement caused by deformation twinning and mobile dislocations generated during deformation-induced martensite transformation. None of the austenitic high-manganese steels exhibit clear ductile-brittle transition behavior, but their absorbed energy gradually decreases with lowering test temperature, regardless of the alloying elements. However, the combined addition of Mn and Al to the austenitic high-manganese steels suppresses the decrease in absorbed energy with a decreasing temperature by enhancing austenite stability.