Effects of Finish Rolling Temperature and Deformation on Microstructural Evolution and Precipitation Behavior of Non‐quenched and Tempered Carbide‐Free Bainitic Steel

Double compression tests are carried out to investigate the microstructural evolution and precipitation behavior of Nb–Ti microalloyed carbide‐free bainitic steel under different finish rolling conditions. With decreasing finish rolling temperature and increasing finish rolling deformation, the area fraction of lath bainite (LB) and martensite (M) was increased, the width of bainitic ferrite lath was decreased, the dislocation density and the number fraction of high‐angle grain boundaries are raised. Meanwhile, the larger deformation and lower temperature reduce the amount of retained austenite (RA) and refine the precipitated particles, which benefit the performance further. Hence, the phase transformation strengthening, refinement strengthening, dislocation strengthening, and precipitation strengthening synergistically contribute to the increase in hardness with increasing deformation and decreasing temperature.