Effect of thermomechanical processing on the microstructure and properties of a low carbon copper bearing steel

A boron treated copper bearing HSLA steel containing austenite formers like manganese and nickel, somewhat lower in amount than that in HSLA 100 variety of steel is chosen for the study. The role of thermomechanical processing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the above steel has been investigated. Differential scanning calorimetric study is carried out for understanding the precipitation behaviour of copper in HSLA steel under the influence of boron. The microstructure of the experimental steel is found to consist of laths of martensites and bainite. MA constituents of ribbon like morphology are observed at the lath boundaries. Higher strength properties of the steel are attributed to the presence of finely distributed precipitates of copper and microalloy carbides.