Flow-Stress Model of 300M Steel for Multi-Pass Compression

In this work, multi-pass compressions were performed at various strain rates (0.01 s(-1), 0.1 s(-1), 1 s(-1), 10 s(-1)), temperatures (950 degrees C, 1050 degrees C, 1150 degrees C), inter-pass holding time (1 s, 10 s, 30 s, 120 s, 600 s), interrupt strains (0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6), and total pass numbers (1, 2, 3, 4). The intriguing finding was that the recrystallized fraction, average dislocation density, and plastic cumulative strain were partly eliminated during inter-pass holding, resulting in the early occurrence of recrystallization in subsequent compression. Therefore, a parameter (Theta) to evaluate the overall softening fraction due to recrystallization was proposed, and it was then used to iteratively rectify the average dislocation density and plastic cumulative strain in flow-stress modeling. The flow-stress model parameters of 300M steel for multi-pass compression were identified using an optimization technique based on non-derivative method integrated in MATLAB software. The average deviation of calculated and experimental flow-stress was 0.88 MPa (1.35%), showing good accuracy of the flow-stress model. The microstructure evolution of 300M steel was analyzed by the change of softening fraction during multi-pass compression, which provided a useful reference for the research of stress-microstructure relationships of high-strength steels.