In this study, three kinds of bainitic steels are fabricated by controlling the contents of vanadium and boron. High vanadium steel has a lot of carbides and nitrides, and so, during the cooling process, acicular ferrite is well formed. Carbides and nitrides develop fine grains by inhibiting grain growth. As a result, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of high vanadium steel is higher than that of low vanadium steel. In boron added steel, boron segregates at the prior austenite grain boundary, so that acicular ferrite formation occurs well during the cooling process. However, the granular bainite packet size of the boron added steel is larger than that of high vanadium steel because boron cannot effectively suppress grain growth. Therefore, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the boron added steel is lower than that of the low vanadium steel. HAZ (heat affected zone) microstructure formation affects not only vanadium and boron but also the prior austenite grain size. In the HAZ specimen having large prior austenite grain size, acicular ferrite is formed inside the austenite, and granular bainite, bainitic ferrite, and martensite are also formed in a complex, resulting in a mixed acicular ferrite region with a high volume fraction. On the other hand, in the HAZ specimen having small prior austenite grain size, the volume fraction of the mixed acicular ferrite region is low because granular bainite and bainitic ferrite are coarse due to the large number of prior austenite grain boundaries.

Direct water quenching technique can be used in hot stamping process to obtain higher cooling rate compared to that of the normal die cooling method. In the direct water quenching process, setting proper water flow rate in consideration of material thickness and the size of the area directly cooled in the component is important to ensure uniform microstructure and mechanical properties. In this study, to derive proper water flow rate conditions that can achieve uniform microstructure and mechanical properties, microstructure and hardness distribution in various water flow rate conditions are measured for 3.2 mm thick boron steel sheet. Hardness distribution is uniform under the flow condition of 1.5 L/min or higher. However, due to the lower cooling rate in that area, the lower flow conditions result in a drastic decrease in hardness in some areas in the hot-stamped part, resulting in low martensite fraction. From these results, it is found that the selection of proper water flow rate is an important factor in hot stamping with direct water quenching process to ensure uniform mechanical properties.

In this study, the direct water quenching technique is applied to validate the applicability of direct water quenching as a cooling method in the hot stamping process of 3.2 mm thick boron steel sheet. Cooling performance of conventional die quenching and direct water quenching is compared. Higher cooling rate is obtained by hot stamping with direct water quenching compared to die quenching. As the flow rate of cooling water increases, the cooling rate increases, and a high cooling rate of 71 oC/s is achieved under flow rate conditions of 0.8 L/min. Through direct water quenching, the cooling time required for sufficient cooling of the sheet is reduced. Full martensitic microstructure is obtained under flow rate condition of 0.8 L/min. Hardness increases with increasing flow rate. From these results, it is verified that the direct water quenching is applicable to the hot stamping of thick boron steel sheet.

The prediction of Jominy hardness curves and the effect of alloying elements on the hardenability of boron steels (19 different steels) are investigated using multiple regression analysis. To evaluate the hardenability of boron steels, Jominy end quenching tests are performed. Regardless of the alloy type, lath martensite structure is observed at the quenching end, and ferrite and pearlite structures are detected in the core. Some bainite microstructure also appears in areas where hardness is sharply reduced. Through multiple regression analysis method, the average multiplying factor (regression coefficient) for each alloying element is derived. As a result, B is found to be 6308.6, C is 71.5, Si is 59.4, Mn is 25.5, Ti is 13.8, and Cr is 24.5. The valid concentration ranges of the main alloying elements are 19 ppm < B < 28 ppm, 0.17 < C < 0.27 wt%, 0.19 < Si < 0.30 wt%, 0.75 < Mn < 1.15 wt%, 0.15 < Cr < 0.82 wt%, and 3 < N < 7 ppm. It is possible to predict changes of hardenability and hardness curves based on the above method. In the validation results of the multiple regression analysis, it is confirmed that the measured hardness values are within the error range of the predicted curves, regardless of alloy type.

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 hardenability of boron steel specimens with different molybdenum and chromium contents was investigated using dilatometry and microstructural observations, and then was quantitatively measured at a critical cooling rate corresponding to 90 % martensite hardness obtained from a hardness distribution plotted as a function of cooling rate. Based on the results, the effect of an austenitizing temperature on the hardenability and tensile properties was discussed in terms of segregation and precipitation behavior of boron atoms at austenite grain boundaries. The molybdenum addition completely suppressed the formation of pro-eutectoid ferrite even at the slowest cooling rate of 0.2 oC/s, while the chromium addition did at the cooling rates above 3 oC/s. On the other hand, the hardenability of the molybdenum-added boron steel specimens decreased with an increasing austenitizing temperature. This is associated with the preferred precipitation of boron atoms since a considerable number of boron atoms could be concentrated along austenite grain boundaries by a non-equilibrium segregation mechanism. The secondary ion mass spectroscopy results showed that boron atoms were mostly segregated at austenite grain boundaries without noticeable precipitation at higher austenitization temperatures, while they formed as precipitates at lower austenitization temperatures, particularly in the molybdenum-added boron steel specimens.

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.

Due to the increasing use that the stainless steel is getting recently in the nuclear industry, this document proposes the study of the stainless steel 316L with boron addition. With the final product, the properties of the stainless steel 316L (good mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance) with the boron neutron absorption properties are claimed to unify. The P/M technologies allow adding higher boron quantities than with the solidification conventional technologies, where segregation is produced.

0.07%C-0.014%Ti-0.015Nb-0.005%B강 (강종 B)을 각각 TMCP처리하여 그 기계적 특성과 B의 거동을 조사하였다. Ta-B강이 Ti-Nb-B강보다 인장강도는 더 우수하였으나 충격 흡수에너지는 훨씬 더 낮았다. Ta-B강의 강도가 Ti-Nb-B강보다 더 우수한 이유는 Ta-B강에서의 Ta의 석출강화 효과가 Ti-Nb-B강에서의 Ti와 Nb의 석출강화 효과보다 더 크기 때문으로 생각된다. Ta-B강은 입내파괴, Ti-Nb-B강은 임계파괴의 파괴양상을 보여이며, Ti-Nb-B강이 Ta-B 강보다 더 큰 충격 흡수에너지를 나타내었다. TMCP에서는 항온변태시의 평형석출과는 달리 연속냉각방법을 사용하였기 때문에 B가 결정립계에 평형적 또는 비평형적으로 편석되어 준안정상으로 생각되는 연속적인 필름 형태의 붕화물을 형성한다. 또한, 냉각속도의 차이에 따라 석출물은 결정질이 되거자 비정질이 되었다. B의 함량이 많은 Ti-Nb-B강에서는 석출물이 비정질상이었다. 한편, B함량이 적은 Ta-B강에서는 B강에서는 결정립계에서 B가 관찰되지 않아는데, 이것은 결정립계에서의 B의 석출이 B의 함량에 매우 민감함을 의미하는 것이다.