This study examines the effect of microstructural factors on the strength and deformability of ferrite-pearlite steels. Six kinds of ferrite-pearlite steel specimens are fabricated with the addition of different amounst of Mn and V and with varying the isothermal transformation temperature. The Mn steel specimen with a highest Mn content has the highest pearlite volume fraction because Mn addition inhibits the formation of ferrite. The V steel specimen with a highest V content has the finest ferrite grain size and lowest pearlite volume fraction because a large amount of ferrite forms in fine austenite grain boundaries that are generated by the pinning effect of many VC precipitates. On the other hand, the room-temperature tensile test results show that the V steel specimen has a longer yield point elongation than other specimens due to the highest ferrite volume fraction. The V specimen has the highest yield strength because of a larger amount of VC precipitates and grain refinement strengthening, while the Mn specimen has the highest tensile strength because the highest pearlite volume fraction largely enhances work hardening. Furthermore, the tensile strength increases with a higher transformation temperature because increasing the precipitate fraction with a higher transformation temperature improves work hardening. The results reveal that an increasing transformation temperature decreases the yield ratio. Meanwhile, the yield ratio decreases with an increasing ferrite grain size because ferrite grain size refinement largely increases the yield strength. However, the uniform elongation shows no significant changes of the microstructural factors.

Recently, steel structures have increasingly been required to have sufficient deformability because they are subjected to progressive or abrupt displacement arising from structure loading itself, earthquake, and ground movement in their service environment. In this study, high-strength low-carbon bainitic steel specimens with enhanced deformability were fabricated by varying thermo-mechanical control process conditions consisting of controlled rolling and accelerated cooling, and then tensile and Charpy V-notch impact tests were conducted to investigate the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties such as strength, deformability, and low-temperature toughness. Low-temperature transformation phases, i.e. granular bainite (GB), degenerate upper bainite(DUB), lower bainite(LB) and lath martensite(LM), together with fine polygonal ferrite(PF) were well developed, and the microstructural evolution was more critically affected by start and finish cooling temperatures than by finish rolling temperature. The steel specimens start-cooled at higher temperature had the best combination of strength and deformability because of the appropriate mixture of fine PF and low-temperature transformation phases such as GB, DUB, and LB/LM. On the other hand, the steel specimens start-cooled at lower temperature and finish-cooled at higher temperature exhibited a good low-temperature toughness because the interphase boundaries between the low-temperature transformation phases and/or PF act as beneficial barriers to cleavage crack propagation.

콘크리트 부재의 내진설계에 있어 강도와 더불어 변형 능력은 중요한 요소이다. 연결보는 전단 지배 부재임에도 항복 이후 소성 변형을 요구하는 부재인데 본 연구에서는 연결보의 변형 능력에 대한 실험을 통해 변형 모형을 제시하였다. 일반적인 배근 형태를 가진 철근 콘크리트 연결보를 대상으로 단조하중실험을 수행하였다. 경간-깊이비, 휨 철근비, 전단 철근비를 변수로 하여 연결보의 거동을 평가하였다. 전단 지배 부재인 연결보는 아치작용과 트러스 작용으로 전단력에 대해 저항하는데 실험 결과를 통해 전단력을 두 작용의 구분과 항복 강도 발현 이후 소성 변형에 따른 두 작용의 구성비 변화에 대해 분석하였다. 실험결과에 기초한 전단 철근과 휨 철근의 변형률 분포 모형을 이용하여 휨 철근의 응력 상태를 산정하였다. 휨 철근의 부착-미끄러짐에 의해 결정되는 균열폭을 고려하는 연결보의 변형 모형을 제시하였다. 항복 상태는 휨 철근의 항복 시점으로 정의하였고, 극한 상태는 변형 증가에 따른 스트럿의 압축 강도 저하에 의해 결정되었다. 이 변형 모형은 변위기초설계에 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.