Grain refinement and formation of ultrafine-grained microstructure in a low-carbon steel under electropulsing

High current electropulsing was applied to a low-carbon steel in the solid state. The relationship between grain size and experimental conditions was revealed. It was found that the ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure could be formed when electric current density, heating rate, and cooling rate all were high. The UFG samples prepared by applying electropulsing were free of porosity and contamination, and had no large microstrain. Also, their tensile strength was dramatically enhanced over that of their coarse-grained counterparts, without a decrease in ductility. The mechanism for grain refinement and formation of the UFG microstructure was discussed. It is proposed that the effect of a decrease in thermodynamic barrier and enhancement of nucleation rate in a current-carrying system cannot be neglected.