Effect of thermal deformation and Nb element action on the organization and performance of steel

Abstract The influences of Nb element and hot deformation on the strength of steels were systematically investigated. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the steels are determined through optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and tensile tests. The nanometer sized carbide particles precipitated in the grain boundary are attributed mainly to severe deformation at high temperature. Of the two steels with different content of Nb element and deformation, the strength of 2 # steel is more lager due to more content of Nb can form more precipitates to limit grains growth. Furthermore, the results also shown that adding Nb can refine the microstructure of the steel and effectively improve the mechanical properties, but only thermal deformation has no obvious effect on the improvement of the properties of the steel.