Revealing Precipitation Behavior and Coarsening Mechanisms During Tempering in Ti–Mo–V Hot-Rolled Ultra-High-Strength Ferritic Steel
摘要
The coordinated optimization of coiling and tempering processes in microalloyed hot-rolled ultra-high-strength steels is critical for achieving effective control of microstructure and microalloyed second-phase particles, thereby ensuring superior mechanical properties. In this work, combined experimental characterization and theoretical calculations were employed to systematically investigate the precipitation behavior and coarsening mechanisms of (Ti, Mo, V)C particles in a Ti–Mo–V hot-rolled ultra-high-strength steel during tempering, with particular emphasis on the influence of coiling conditions. The results indicate that low-temperature coiling at 550 °C significantly increases the supersaturation of microalloying elements and the dislocation density, thereby enhancing the precipitation driving force and nucleation rate of (Ti, Mo, V)C particles. Consequently, the precipitation start time is shortened from 90 to 30 seconds. When the tempering time increases form 1 to 7 hours, particle evolution is dominated by coarsening, while the lattice misfit between (Ti, Mo, V)C and α-Fe decrease from 6.67 to 2.76 pct, leading to improved coarsening resistance and a reduced coarsening rate. In addition, during the precipitation-dominated tempering stage, the hardness of both steels exceeds that of the as-rolled condition, with the low-temperature-coiled steel achieving a peak hardness of 302 HV.