Strengthening mechanisms of a new 700 MPa hot rolled Ti-microalloyed steel produced by compact strip production

A new hot rolled titanium-microalloyed steel with yield strength of 700 MPa has been developed by CSP (compact strip production) process based on commercial weather resistant steel. EBSD results showed that the average size of its grains with high angle boundaries (>15 degrees) was 3.3 mu m. High-density dislocations and large number of nanometer particles were observed in the steel product by TEM. X-ray analysis on the electrolytically extracted phase from the steel indicated that fraction of MX phase was 0.0793 wt%, in which the particles smaller than 10 nm accounted for 33.7%. The contribution of precipitation hardening resulting from nanometer particles was calculated as approximate 158 MPa. The commercial weather resistant steel, reference steel for comparison with 450 MPa yield strength, was also prepared and investigated. It can be concluded that grain refinement is still a major strengthening mechanism in this high strength steel, but precipitation hardening of nanometer TiC precipitates is the dominant factor to increasing the yield strength in new developed steel compared with the reference steel. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.