This application is a National Stage Patent Application of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2021/016379 (filed on Nov. 11, 2021) under 35 U.S.C. § 371, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0172118 (filed on Dec. 10, 2020), which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a method for producing a ferritic lightweight steel and a ferritic lightweight steel produced using the same, and more particularly, to a method for producing a cost-effective ferritic lightweight steel, which comprises performing low-temperature tempering for a short time, thereby maximizing structural stability, and increasing strength even at a low manganese content.
In general, for a weight reduction strategy in the industrial field, high-Mn steel is added to twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels, or a large amount of Al is added to transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. The addition of 1 wt % Al reduces the density of the alloy by up to 1.3%, but for engineering applications, high-Al lightweight or low-density TWIP or TRIP steels have several disadvantages. When various thermodynamic events in lightweight steels occur, the stability of face-centered cubic (f.c.c.) austenite grains at high temperatures significantly decreases due to the high density of Al content. This makes austenite grains heterogeneous at room temperature due to the size and distribution of metastable austenite grains. Consequently, solid-state martensitic transformation during plastic deformation of heterogeneous metastable austenite is unpredictable, leading to premature TRIP at small deformations during tensile testing.
Conventionally used lightweight steels have an excellent elongation, but it was difficult to obtain a desired strength due to the addition of aluminum. The method proposed to overcome this difficulty is a method of adding manganese to increase strength, but when a large amount of manganese is added, a problem arises in that the process cost increases.
In order to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages, in the present invention, low-temperature tempering was performed after conventional thermal machining used in a wide range of industrial applications. Here, it was shown that, when the low-temperature tempering process was tuned, the strength and ductility of general ferritic LIGHT-TRIP-DP steels were simultaneously improved by partitioning the interstitial carbon atoms into heterogeneous metastable austenite. In particular, this tempering process was performed without loss of high dislocation density in metastable austenite grains.
The present invention has been made to order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ferritic lightweight steel having ultra-high strength, high ductility and low density.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a ferritic lightweight steel which may be produced at reduced cost, by using solid solute elements such as Al and Mn to solve the problem with a problem of a conventional process that increases the process cost.
Objects to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description.
A method for producing a ferritic lightweight steel according to the present invention comprises steps of:
The lightweight steel is characterized by containing 2.0 to 3.0 wt % Mn, 5.0 to 6.0 wt % Al, and 0.1 to 0.3 wt % C.
Through the Technical Solution, according to the present invention, it is possible to produce a ferritic lightweight steel having ultra-high strength, high ductility and low-density.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to produce a cost-effective ferritic lightweight steel at reduced cost by using solid solute elements such as Al and Mn to solve the problem with a problem of a conventional process that increases the process cost.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to produce a ferritic lightweight steel having increased strength and ductility as a result of tuning a low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the mechanical properties of steel by maximizing the structural stability of the steel through the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process.
Terms used in the present specification will be briefly described, and the present invention will be described in detail.
The terms used in the present invention are currently widely used general terms selected in consideration of their functions in the present invention, but they may change depending on the intents of those skilled in the art, precedents, or the advents of new technology. Accordingly, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the entire contents of the present invention, rather than the simple term name.
Throughout the present specification, it is to be understood that when any part is referred to as “including” any component, it does not exclude other components, but may further include other components, unless otherwise specified.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily carry out the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.
Specific details including the technical problem, technical solution and effects of the present invention are included in the embodiments to be described below and the accompanying drawings. The advantages and features of the present invention, and the way of attaining them, will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Conventionally used lightweight steels have an excellent elongation, but it was difficult to obtain a desired strength due to the addition of aluminum. The method proposed to overcome this difficulty is a method of adding manganese to increase strength, but when a large amount of manganese is added, a problem arises in that the process cost increases. This causes a large loss in economic terms, and there has been a need for other methods. For these reasons, according to the present invention, it is possible to a so-called “cost-effective” lightweight steel by additionally performing a low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (hereinafter referred to as LTP) process that makes it possible to obtain a desired strength while reducing the amount of manganese added.
In general, the FCC austenite phases of metal alloys and steels are stable at high temperatures. However, when various thermodynamic treatments are performed on LIGHT TRIP-DP (transformation-induced plasticity-dual phase) materials, the stability of austenite grains at high temperatures is significantly reduced. This makes the austenite grains irregular at room temperature, and makes the size and distribution of metastable austenite grains heterogeneous. LIGHT TRIP-DP alloys are different in metastable austenite grains from general TRIP-DP having a low Al content (less than 5 wt %). That is, the former constitutes heterogeneous lamellar metastable austenite grains embedded in a rough low-temperature stable BCC-ferrite matrix, whereas the latter forms a uniform distribution along grain boundaries. Consequently, solid-state martensitic transformation during plastic deformation of heterogeneous metastable austenite is unpredictable, leading to premature TRIP at small deformations during tensile testing.
A conventional process method comprises high-temperature heating, followed by high-temperature rolling and low-temperature rolling, and then annealing. However, as described above, the conventional method needs to be improved because it has a disadvantage in terms of strength and grain size imbalance occurs. When observing the microstructure after the rolling process, it can be observed that the microstructure is very heterogeneous. Therefore, heat treatment is performed again to cause recrystallization and phase transformation. After a total of two process steps are completed, a low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (hereinafter referred to as LTP) process is performed for about 600 seconds at 300° C., which is a relatively lower temperature than the temperature of the previous process. According to the present invention, it is possible to maximize structural stability and improve mechanical properties, by performing the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process.
The ferritic lightweight steel of the present invention is characterized by containing 2.0 to 3.0 wt % manganese (Mn), 5.0 to 6.0 wt % aluminum (Al), and 0.1 to 0.3 wt % carbon (C). In addition, the ferritic lightweight steel is characterized by having a ferrite volume fraction of 76.9% and an austenite volume fraction of 23.1%.
Mn is contained in an amount of 2.0 to 3.0 wt % to reduce process cost.
Al is contained in an amount of 5.0 to 6.0 wt % to reduce the mass density of the alloy and to suppress a harmful Fe—C-based precipitate.
C is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 0.3 wt %, and a rolled steel sheet containing 0.1 to 0.3 wt % C is subjected to intercritical annealing (hereinafter referred to as ICA) at 850° C. to 950° C.
In one embodiment, a steel containing 0.3 wt % C was subjected to ICA (S50) at 850° C. (hereinafter referred to as followed by an isothermal annealing process (S70), and then a low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process was performed at 300° C. for 10 minutes. As a result, as shown in
In one example, the sample obtained by performing LTP on the sample subjected to ICA (S50) at 0.3C-850 was analyzed by TEM up to 300° C. As a result, as shown in
The components of the ferritic lightweight steel after LTP are shown in Table 1 below.
As shown by atomic probe tomography (APT) in
The heterogeneity of metastable austenite grains in annealed (S70) steel indicates irregularities in position and grain sizes range from 0.45 to 4.2 μm. This heterogeneity is caused by the clustered microstructure, which forms a layer along the rolling direction (RD) in the rolled state. As shown in
As shown in
To determine the dislocation density of LPT steels during tensile testing, bonding analysis was performed using synchrotron XRD and stepwise strain until the final sample fracture. The diffraction results obtained at different strain levels, i.e., strain ε=at 0% (annealed state), 13.5%, 25.2%, and 47.1%, are shown in
FIG. shows changes in microstructures depending on rolling changes after LTP. It can be observed that, in a small zone, there is no significant change even as the rolling change increases, but in the coarse zone, the size increases as the amount of change increases.
Next, the grain size dependence of phase transformation due to strain in small- and coarse-grained austenite was examined. Nanoindentation test and TEM analysis were performed at the same location in the indenter-marked austenite region of small grains with a diameter of 0.5 μm or less and coarse grains with a diameter of 3.1 μm or less. The load-displacement curve in
This is also confirmed by the TEM image and the corresponding Selected Area Diffraction Pattern (SADP), as shown in
The method for producing a ferritic lightweight steel according to the present invention is performed as shown in
First, in step 1 (S10), an alloy is subjected to solution treatment at 1,200° C. for 90 minutes. The term “solution treatment” means softening an alloy by heating the alloy above the temperature at which the alloy melts to form a solid solution and maintaining the heated alloy for a sufficient time. Specifically, if the solid treatment is performed below 1,200° C., a problem may arise in that the fraction of the austenite phase is lowered, and if the solid treatment is performed above 1,200° C., a problem may arise in that the grain size of the austenite phase becomes excessively large. For these reasons, the solid treatment is preferably performed under the above-described conditions. In addition, if the solid treatment is performed for less than 90 minutes, a problem may arise in that the fraction of the austenite phase is lowered, and if the solid treatment is performed for more than 90 minutes, a problem may arise in that the grain size of the austenite phase becomes excessively large. For these reasons, the solid treatment is preferably performed under the above-described conditions.
The alloy is characterized by containing manganese (Mn), aluminum (Al) and carbon (C), and the lightweight steel produced by the method for producing a ferritic lightweight steel according to the present invention is characterized by containing 2.0 to 3.0 wt % manganese (Mn), 5.0 to 6.0 wt % aluminum (Al), and 0.1 to 0.3 wt % carbon (C).
Next, in step 2 (S20), the alloy subjected to solution treatment is hot rolled at 900° C. to 1100° C. In step 2 (S20), the thickness is reduced by 55% by hot rolling. More specifically, the hot rolling in step 2 (S20) is performed below 900° C., sufficient rolling to a predetermined thickness is impossible because the temperature interval up to the finish rolling temperature is narrow, and if the hot rolling is performed above 1,100° C., it may cause high temperature brittleness. Thus, the hot rolling is preferably performed under the above-described condition.
Next, in step 3 (S30), the hot-rolled alloy is air-cooled to room temperature at a cooling rate of 10° C./s. However, the hot-rolled alloy may be rolled at 650° C. for 60 minutes, and then air-cooled to room temperature. The hot-rolled alloy is produced in a coil shape.
Next, in step 4 (S40), the air-cooled alloy is cold-rolled at room temperature until the thickness is reduced by 70%.
As shown in
Next, in step 5 (S50), the cold-rolled alloy is subjected to intercritical annealing (ICA) at 850° C. to 950° C. for 90 seconds. In the cold-rolled alloy, ferrite and austenite are produced while step 5 (50) is performed. The temperature at which step 5 (S50) is performed is selected to dissolve κ-carbide phase completely, based on the thermodynamic calculations of the quaternary Fe—Mn—Al—C systems.
More specifically, if the intercritical annealing in step 5 (S50) is performed below 850° C., residual austenite is likely to remain, and the intercritical annealing is performing for the purpose the alloying elements sufficiently. For this reason, the intercritical annealing does not need to be performed above 950° C.
Next, in step 6 (S60), the alloy subjected to intercritical annealing is cooled at a cooling rate of −10° C./s.
Next, in step 7 (S70), the cooled alloy is isothermally annealed at 430° C. for 50 seconds.
Next, in step 8 (S80), the isothermally annealed alloy is air-cooled.
Next, in step 9 S90, the air-cooled alloy is subjected to low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) at 300° C. for 10 minutes. In the isothermally annealed alloy, a dual-phase microstructure consisting of ferrite and austenite is formed by performing step 9 (S90). The tempering in step 9 (S90) is preferably performed until the precipitates precipitate and reach an equilibrium phase.
More specifically, if the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) in step 9 (S90) is performed below 300° C., a problem may arise in that the precipitates do not precipitate, and if the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) is performed above 300° C., a problem may arise in that the precipitates are coarsened, resulting in degradation in mechanical properties and an increase in the production cost. For these reason, the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) is preferably performed under the above-described conditions. If the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) in step (S90) is performed for less than 10 minutes, a problem may arise in that the precipitates do not precipitate, and if the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) is performed for more than 10 minutes, a problem may arise in that sufficient energy may be obtained, resulting in grain coarsening. For these reasons, the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) is preferably performed under the above-described conditions.
In previous studies, those having a tensile strength of 1 GPa or more and an elongation of 7% or more were main products. However, through the LTP process of the present invention, a ferrite phase became the main structure of the alloy, the yield strength of the alloy increased from 610 MPa to 798 MPa, and the ultimate tensile strength increased from 900 MPa to 1,108 MPa. Also, the total elongation increased from 42.5% to 47% (absolute value).
According to the Technical Solution of the present invention, it is possible to produce a ferritic lightweight steel having ultra-high strength, high ductility and low density.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to produce a ferritic lightweight steel at reduced cost, by using solid solute elements such as Al and Mn to solve the problem with a problem of a conventional process that increases the process cost.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to produce a ferritic lightweight steel having increased strength and ductility as a result of tuning a low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the mechanical properties of steel by maximizing the structural stability of the steel through the low-temperature tempering-induced partitioning (LTP) process.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the technical spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention.
Therefore, the embodiments described above are considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and it should be understood that all modifications or variations derived from the meanings and scope of the present invention and equivalents thereto are within the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2020-0172118 | Dec 2020 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/KR2021/016379 | 11/11/2021 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2022/124601 | 6/16/2022 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20210222266 | Jin | Jul 2021 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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10-2011-0104118 | Sep 2011 | KR |
10-1289902 | Jul 2013 | KR |
10-2015-0074959 | Jul 2015 | KR |
10-2018-0126070 | Nov 2018 | KR |
10-2018-0126580 | Nov 2018 | KR |
10-2319479 | Oct 2021 | KR |
Entry |
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International Search Report for PCT/KR2021/016379 dated Jan. 7, 2022 from Korean Intellectual Property Office. |
Korean Office Action for related KR Application No. 10-2020-0172118 dated Aug. 4, 2021 from Korean Intellectual Property Office. |
Korean Notice of Allowance for related KR Application No. 10-2020-0172118 dated Oct. 21, 2021 from Korean Intellectual Property Office. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230392238 A1 | Dec 2023 | US |