Effect of Rare Earth Ce on Sulfide Characteristics and Microstructure in Non-Quenched and Tempered Steel

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00011

Acta Metall Sin

2022, Vol. 58

Issue (3): 365-374 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00011

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Effect of Rare Earth Ce on Sulfide Characteristics and Microstructure in Non-Quenched and Tempered Steel

LIU Jie¹, XU Le¹(

), SHI Chao², YANG Shaopeng¹^,³, HE Xiaofei¹, WANG Maoqiu¹, SHI Jie¹

^1.Institute of Special Steels, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, Beijing 100081, China
^2.Inner Monglia North Heavy Industries Group Corp. Ltd. , Baotou 014033, China
^3.The Technology Center of Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. , Ma'anshan 243000, China

Cite this article:

LIU Jie, XU Le, SHI Chao, YANG Shaopeng, HE Xiaofei, WANG Maoqiu, SHI Jie. Effect of Rare Earth Ce on Sulfide Characteristics and Microstructure in Non-Quenched and Tempered Steel. Acta Metall Sin, 2022, 58(3): 365-374.

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Abstract

A rare-earth Ce microalloyed non-quenching and tempering steel was designed. The morphology, quantity, and size of inclusions in non-quenched and tempered steel with different Ce contents were characterized by SEM, EDS, and ASPEX, as well as the metallography of the test steels. The formation process of Ce sulfide inclusion was analyzed by Thermo-Calc thermodynamic software, and the element distribution at grain boundary and phase interface was characterized by 3DAP. The results showed that Ce combined with S to form Ce₃S₄ inclusion which then transformed into Ce₂S₃ inclusion, and finally formed the composite inclusion with Ce₂S₃ as the core and Ti₄C₂S₂ and MnS as the cladding growth. The aspect ratio of more than 90% inclusions in the steel test with Ce element is less than 2.5; the microstructure of the steel was the smallest with an average grain size of 4.17 μm when the Ce content was 0.019% (mass fraction). The results of 3DAP prove that Ce segregates at the grain boundary and phase boundary, which hinder the diffusion of C and inhibit the growth of grain. In addition, the finely dispersed Ce inclusions as nucleation particles also refine the microstructure of the non-quenched and tempered steel.

Key words: rare earth Ce non-quenched and tempered steel inclusion grain refinement

Received: 06 January 2021

ZTFLH:

TG142

Fund: National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFB0300103)

About author: XU Le, professor, Tel: 18911259273, E-mail: xule@nercast.com

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	Jie LIU
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	Chao SHI
	Shaopeng YANG
	Xiaofei HE
	Maoqiu WANG
	Jie SHI

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00011 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2022/V58/I3/365

Table 1 Chemical compositions of the test steels

Fig.1 Compositions of inclusions in steel

Fig.2 EDS mappings of composite inclusions in steel

Fig.3 OM images of microstructures of inclusions

Fig.4 Distributions of inclusions in steel

Fig.5 Numbers and sizes of inclusions in steel

Fig.6 Aspect ratios of inclusions in steel

Fig.7 Inclusion accumulation diagram in test steel containing 0.027%Ce (R3)

Fig.8 OM images of microstructures of the test steels

Fig.9 Ferrite contents of the test steels

Fig.10 Uniaxial balance property diagram of R1 steel

Fig.11 The generation process diagram of cerium-based composite inclusions

Table 2 Phase transition points of the test steel

Fig.12 Element distributions at grain boundary and phase interface

Fig.13 Element distribution of Ce and S at grain boundary and phase interface

Fig.14 Intra-granular ferrite (IGF) around the composite inclusion

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