Microstructural and Tribological Characterization of API X52 Dual-Phase Steel

The effect of the morphology and the martensite volume fraction on the microhardness, the tensile, the friction and the wear behavior of API X52 dual phase (DP) steel has been investigated. Three different heat treatments were used to develop dual phase steel with different morphologies and with different amounts of martensite: Intermediate Quenching Treatment/Water (IQ); Step Quenching Treatment (SQ) and direct quenching (DQ). Tribological tests are conducted on DP steels using a ball-on-disc configuration under normal load of 5 N and at a sliding speed of 4 cm/s were used to study the friction and wear behavior of treated samples. Results show that the ferrite–martensite morphology has a great influence on the mechanical properties of dual phase steel. The steel subjected to (IQ) treatment attain superior mechanical properties compared to the SQ and the DQ treatments. On the other hand, it is also found that the friction coefficient and the wear rate (volume loss) decrease when the hardness and the martensite volume fraction increase. The steel with fine fibrous martensite provide good wear resistance.

Effect of Martensite Volume Fraction on Oxidative and Adhesive Wear

It is generally known that microstructure can considerably affect the tribological behavior of non-lubricated rubbing. However, there is still a lack of awareness about the effect of microstructure on oxidative wear. The present study focused on the effect of martensite volume fraction (MVF) on oxidative wear by using 25CD4 dual-phase steel. Dry friction tests were performed on a ball-on-flat tribometer with a normal load of 15 N and a mean sliding velocity of 0.013 m/s. Friction coefficient and wear rate increase with the increasing MVF. SEM observation and EDXS analyses of the wear scars showed that the oxidation increases with decreasing MVF. For lower MVF, the main wear mechanism is mild oxidative wear. For higher MVF, severe adhesion is predominant as a wear mechanism. The size of the debris decreases with decreasing MVF.

Effect of the Pre-Strain on the Elastic Behavior of a Dual-Phase Steel with Different Martensite Contents

The modulus of elasticity is an important parameter for an accurate prediction of the springback in sheet metal forming processes. With increasing plastic deformation, this modulus behaves nonlinearly and declines, which leads to an unpredictable springback behavior. The most cited reason for this nonlinearity is the dislocation movement during plastic deformation that especially occurs with multiphase steels. The present contribution investigates the nonlinear unloading behavior and the resulting decrease of the elastic modulus from a differently heat treated DP980 steel. The heat treatments set five different microstructures with martensite volume fractions in the range of 42 to 95 %. By means of the tensile test, a decline of the elastic modulus according to pre-strain was examined by evaluating the chord-modulus during unloading at different strain levels. In addition, a nano-hardness test was performed. It turned out that in all heat treatment conditions, a pronounced decrease in the modulus of elasticity up to 25% from the initial value occurred. With decreasing annealing temperature and lower martensite volume fraction, respectively, the martensite hardness increased, leading to higher hardness differences between the ferrite and the martensite phase in the microstructure. This led to an increase of strain hardening, i.e. to an increased formation of fresh mobile dislocations in the vicinity of the harder martensite phase during plastic deformation. As a result, the modulus of elasticity decreased more sharply. Thus, in the present contribution, an interplay between the martensite volume fraction and its hardness on the decrease of elastic modulus could be clearly manifested.

Fatigue Crack Growth and Fracture Toughness in a Dual Phase Steel: Effect of Increasing Martensite Volume Fraction

Crack growth resistance in dual-phase steel was studied. The dual phase steel microstructure was modified through heat treatments to increase the martensite volume fraction from 10% to 40%. The as-received and heat-treated samples were evaluated using a uniaxial tensile test, fatigue crack growth test, and fracture toughness test. Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) was used to simulate the crack growth in compact tension test specimens. The results showed that an increase in martensite volume fraction is an effective way to increase the fracture resistance under different load conditions, quasistatics and dynamic, increasing the fracture toughness, tensile strength and fatigue resistance of the heat-treated material. Presence of a highest content of martensite results in formation of an important number of secondary cracks during the fatigue crack growth, which slow down the crack propagation. Moreover, martensite generates a crack closure over the crack tip, making the propagation difficult due to the irregularities caused by the crack growth on the martensite. Finally, the computational load-displacement curves are in good agreement with the experimental data.