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 effect of carbon equivalent and cooling rate on microstructure and hardness of A516 steels for pressure vessel is investigated. Six kinds of specimens are fabricated by varying carbon equivalent and cooling rate, and their microstructures and hardness levels are analyzed. Specimens with low carbon equivalent consist of ferrite and pearlite. As the cooling rate increases, the size of pearlite decreases slightly. The specimens with high carbon equivalent and rapid cooling rates of 10 and 20 oC/s consist of not only ferrite and pearlite but also bainite structure, such as granular bainite, acicular ferrite, and bainite ferrite. As the cooling rate increases, the volume fractions of bainite structure increase and the effective grain size decreases. The effective grain sizes of granular bainite, acicular ferrite, and bainitic ferrite are ~20, ~5, and ~10 μm, respectively. In the specimens with bainite structure, the volume fractions of acicular ferrite and bainitic ferrite, with small effective grains, increase as cooling rate increases, and so the hardness increases significantly.

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 ℃ or higher. The specimens isothermally heat-treated at 250 ℃ 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 ℃ and 300 ℃.

In the present study the microstructure of low-carbon steels fabricated by controlled rolling and accelerated cooling processes was characterized and identified based on various microstructure analysis methods including optical and scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD). Although low-carbon steels are usually composed of α-ferrite and cementite(Fe3C) phases, they can have complex microstructures consisting of ferrites with different size, morphology, and dislocation density, and secondary phases dependent on rolling and accelerated cooling conditions. The microstructure of lowcarbon steels investigated in this study was basically classified into polygonal ferrite, acicular ferrite, granular bainite, and bainitic ferrite based on the inverse pole figure, image quality, grain boundary, kernel average misorientation(KAM), and grain orientation spread(GOS) maps, obtained from EBSD analysis. From these results, it can be said that the EBSD analysis provides a valuable tool to identify and quantify the complex microstructure of low-carbon steels fabricated by controlled rolling and accelerated cooling processes.

This present study deals with the effect of micro-alloying elements and transformation temperature on the correlation of microstructure and tensile properties of low-carbon steels with ferrite-pearlite microstructure. Six kinds of lowcarbon steel specimens were fabricated by adding micro-alloying elements of Nb, Ti and V, and by varying isothermal transformation temperature. Ferrite grain size of the specimens containing mirco-alloying elements was smaller than that of the Base specimens because of pinning effect by the precipitates of carbonitrides at austenite grain boundaries. The pearlite interlamellar spacing and cementite thickness decreased with decreasing transformation temperature, while the pearlite volume fraction was hardly affected by micro-alloying elements and transformation temperature. The room-temperature tensile test results showed that the yield strength increased mostly with decreasing ferrite grain size and elongation was slightly improved as the ferrite grain size and pearlite interlamellar spacing decreased. All the specimens exhibited a discontinuous yielding behavior and the yield point elongation of the Nb4 and TiNbV specimens containing micro-alloying elements was larger than that of the Base specimens, presumably due to repetitive pinning and release of dislocation by the fine precipitates of carbonitrides.

In this study, six kinds of low-carbon steel specimens with different ferrite-pearlite microstructures were fabricated by varying the Nb content and the transformation temperature. The microstructural factors of ferrite grain size, pearlite fraction, interlamellar spacing, and cementite thickness were quantitatively measured based on optical and scanning electron micrographs; then, Charpy impact tests were conducted in order to investigate the correlation of the microstructural factors with the impact toughness and the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT). The microstructural analysis results showed that the Nb4 specimens had ferrite grain size smaller than that of the Nb0 specimens due to the pinning effect resulting from the formation of carbonitrides. The pearlite interlamellar spacing and the cementite thickness also decreased as the transformation temperature decreased. The Charpy impact test results indicated that the impact-absorbed energy increased and the ductile-brittle transition temperature decreased with addition of Nb content and decreasing transformation temperature, although all specimens showed ductile-brittle transition behaviour.

The present study deals with the effects of micro-alloying elements such as Ni, V, and Ti on the recrystallization behavior of carbon steels at different strain rates. Eight steel specimens were fabricated by varying the chemical composition and reheating temperature; then, a high-temperature compressive deformation test was conducted in order to investigate the relationship of the microstructure and the recrystallization behavior. The specimens containing micro-alloying elements had smaller prior austenite grain sizes than those of the other specimens, presumably due to the pinning effect of the formation of carbonitrides and AlN precipitates at the austenite grain boundaries. The high-temperature compressive deformation test results indicate that dynamic recrystallization behavior was suppressed in the specimens with micro-alloying elements, particularly at increased strain rate, because of the pinning effect of precipitates, grain boundary dragging and lattice misfit effects of solute atoms, although the strength increased with increasing strain rate.

The present study is concerned with the influence of niobium(Nb) addition and austenitizing temperature on the hardenability of low-carbon boron steels. The steel specimens were austenitized at different temperatures and cooled with different cooling rates using dilatometry; their microstructures and hardness were analyzed to estimate the hardenability. The addition of Nb hardly affected the transformation start and finish temperatures at lower austenitizing temperatures, whereas it significantly decreased the transformation finish temperature at higher austenitizing temperatures. This could be explained by the non-equilibrium segregation mechanism of boron atoms. When the Nb-added boron steel specimens were austenitized at higher temperatures, it is possible that Nb and carbon atoms present in the austenite phase retarded the diffusion of carbon towards the austenite grain boundaries during cooling due to the formation of NbC precipitate and Nb-C clusters, thus preventing the precipitation of M23(C,B)6 along the austenite grain boundaries and thereby improving the hardenability of the boron steels. As a result, because it considerably decreases the transformation finish temperature and prohibits the nucleation of proeutectoid ferrite even at the slow cooling rate of 3 oC/s, irrespective of the austenitizing temperature, the addition of 0.05 wt.% Nb had nearly the same hardenability-enhancing effect as did the addition of 0.2 wt.% Mo.

The effect of tungsten (W) addition on the hardenability of low-carbon boron steels was investigated using dilatometry, microstructural observations and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The hardenability was discussed with respect to transformation behaviour aspects depending on the segregation and precipitation of boron at austenite grain boundaries. A critical cooling rate producing a hardness corresponding to 90 % martensite structure was measured from a hardness distribution plot, and was used as a criterion to estimate hardenability at faster cooling rates. In the low-carbon boron steel, the addition of 0.50 wt.% W was comparable to that of 0.20 wt.% molybdenum in terms of critical cooling rate, indicating hardenability at faster cooling rates. However, the addition of 0.50 wt.% W was not more effective than the addition of .0.20 wt.% molybdenum at slower cooling rates. The addition of 0.20 wt.% molybdenum completely suppressed the formation of eutectoid ferrite even at the slow cooling rate of 0.2˚C/s, while the addition of 0.50 wt.% W did not, even at the cooling rate of 1.0˚C/s. Therefore, it was found that the effect of alloying elements on the hardenability of low-carbon boron steels can be differently evaluated according to cooling rate.

The hardenability of low-carbon boron steels with different molybdenum and chromium contents was investigated using dilatometry, microstructural observations and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and then discussed in terms of the segregation and precipitation behaviors of boron. The hardenability was quantitatively evaluated by a critical cooling rate obtained from the hardness distribution plotted as a function of cooling rate. It was found that the molybdenum addition was more effective than the chromium addition to increase the hardenability of boron steels, in contrast to boron-free steels. The addition of 0.2 wt.% molybdenum completely suppressed the formation of eutectoid ferrite, even at the slow cooling rate of 0.2˚C/s, while the addition of 0.5 wt.% chromium did this at cooling rates above 3˚C/s. The SIMS analysis results to observe the boron distribution at the austenite grain boundaries confirmed that the addition of 0.2 wt.% molybdenum effectively increased the hardenability of boron steels, as the boron atoms were significantly segregated to the austenite grain boundaries without the precipitation of borocarbide, thus retarding the austenite-to-ferrite transformation compared to the addition of 0.5 wt.% chromium. On the other hand, the synergistic effect of molybdenum and boron on the hardenability of boron steels could be explained from thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives.

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.

The microstructures and mechanical properties of Dual Phase (DP), Transformation-Induced Plasticity (TRIP), and Quenching & Partitioning (Q&P) steels were investigated in order to define the strengthening mechanism of 0.2 C steel. An intercritical annealing between Ac1 and Ac3 was conducted to produce DP and TRIP steel, followed by quenching the DP and TRIP steel being quenched at to room temperature and by the TRIP steel being austemperingaustempered-air cooling cooled the steel toat room temperature, respectively. The Q&P steel was produced from full austenization, followed by quenching to the temperature between Ms and Mf, and then enriching the carbon to stabilize the austenite throughout the heat treatment. For the DP and TRIP steels, as the intercritical annealing temperature increased, the tensile strength increased and the elongation decreased. The strength variation was due to the amount of hard phases, i.e., martensite and bainite, respectively in the DP and TRIP steels. It was also found that the elongation also decreased with the amount of soft ferrite in the DP and TRIP steels and with the amount of the that was retained in the austenite phasein the TRIP steel, respectively for the DP and TRIP steels. For the Q&P steel, as the partitioning time increased, the elongation and the tensile strength increased slightly. This was due to the stabilized austenite that was enriched with carbon, even when the amount of retained austenite decreased as the partitioning time increased from 30 seconds to 100 seconds.

The present work was performed to investigate the effect of coiling temperature on the annealed texture in Cu/Nb-added ultra-low-carbon steels. The ultra-low-carbon steels were coiled at 650 and 720˚C, respectively. The result showed that the Cu-added ultra-low-carbon steel at a low coiling temperature produced a desirable annealed texture related to good formability. On the other hand, Nb-added ultra-low-carbon steel at a high coiling temperature also produced a desirable texture. This is attributed to the effect of Nb, which retards recrystallization during the coiling process.

The texture and microstructure in Cu/Nb added ultra low carbon steels through the different thickness layer were studied after hot rolling. It was found that the two ultra low carbon steels all show the inhomogeneity of hot rolling texture and the Cu-added ultra low carbon steel was far more inhomogeneous than Nb-added one. In the center layer, the strong α fibre, γ fibre textures and the shear textures including 001<110>, 111<112> were founded. Near the surface, the α fibre texture and the orientation texture caused by a typical plane-strain deformation condition of bcc metals were observed.

In all conventional sintered PM products, the pores present are of two types, primary and secondary. Primary pores forming during compaction and latter during sintering, due to penetration of formed liquid through the matrix grain boundary. Effect of carbon addition on diffusion of Cu in SH737-2Cu system was investigated. After compaction and transient liquid phase sintering at and , samples were characterized for densification, showing rise in sintering density and reduction in swelling on carbon addition. Quantitative microstructural characterization (shape factor and pore size) revealed bimodal distribution for 0% carbon, more rounded pores for 0.9% carbon and higher sintering temperature, and pore coarsening at higher sintering temperature.

Likelihood of failure for the external corrosion of carbon and low alloy steels, which affect to a risk of facilities, was analyzed quantitatively through the risk based inspection using API-581 BRD. We found that the technical module subfactor (TMSF) decreased as the inspection number increased and it increased as the Inspection effectiveness and the used year increased. In this condition, the TMSF showed high value for the case of the marine/cooling tower drift area as a corrosion driver, poor quality of coating, no insulation, and low insulation condition.