Abstract
This article presents a study on the tensile properties of hypoeutectoid steels with different ferrite-pearlite microstructures. Nine kinds of hypoeutectoid steel specimens were fabricated by varying carbon content and isothermal transformation temperature. The microstructural factors such as ferrite & pearlite fraction, interlamellar spacing, and cementite thickness were quantitatively measured and then tensile tests were carried out on the specimens in order to investigate the correlation of the microstructural factors with strength and ductility. The pearlite volume fraction usually increased with decreasing transformation temperature, while the pearlite interlamellar spacing and cementite thickness decreased mostly with decreasing transformation temperature, irrespective of carbon content. The tensile test results showed that the yield and tensile strengths of all the steel specimens increased and their ductility was also improved as the transformation temperature decreased. For the steel specimens investigated, the difference in the transformation temperature dependence of strength and ductility could be explained by the fact that the variation in pearlite fraction with transformation temperature noticeably affected various microstructural factors such as pearlite interlamellar spacing and cementite thickness associated with pearlite fracture mechanism such as void initiation, cementite necking, and cracking.