• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.211-214
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• 2004

In the present study, the effect of SIDT (Strain Induced Dynamic Transformation) on the microstructure of medium carbon steels was investigated to develop spheroidized annealing-free steel wire rods. When $0.45\%C$ steels were hot-deformed under the conditions of heavy reduction at low temperatures, a microstructure quite different from conventional ferrite-pearlite structure was obtained. It was considered that this ferrite-cementite microstructure was obtained because very small retained austenite grains existing between fine SIDT ferrites prefer to transform to cementite and ferrite instead of pearlite during cooling. Through the present study, $0.45\%C$ steels containing ferrite-cementite (FC) structure instead of ferrite-pearlite structure was obtained in as-rolled state by introducing SIDT. The specimen containing the FC structure was much softer than that containing conventional ferrite-pearlite structure. Therefore, it is concluded that deforming medium carbon steels under the conditions of SIDT is a very powerful method to obtain soft steel wire rods which could be cold-forged without softening heat-treatment

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.181-189
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• 2015

Two types of advanced cold-work tool steels were characterized and compared. A higher-alloyed ledeburitic steel with primary carbides (denoted as 9Cr) and a lower-alloyed steel without primary carbides (5Cr) were fabricated by vacuum induction melting and subsequent hot forging. They were spheroidizing-annealed at $870^{\circ}C$, quenched at $1030^{\circ}C$ and tempered at 180 or $520^{\circ}C$. Their machinability after annealing and hardness, impact toughness, wear resistance after tempering were compared and interpreted in association with their characteristic microstructures. After annealing, 5Cr showed higher resistance to machining due to higher ductility and toughness in spite of lower strength and smaller carbide volume. Owing to smaller carbide volume fraction and the absence of coarse primary carbides, 5Cr showed even better impact toughness although the hardness was lower. The improved toughness of 5Cr resulted in excellent wear resistance, while smaller volume fraction of retained austenite also contributed to it.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1404-1411
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• 1993

This study was undertaken to investigate the corrosive wear charateristics upon various transformation condition of austempered low-alloy ductile cast iron in corrosive environments against mating specimen made of the hardened SM45C. The corrosive wear test was carried out by rubbing the annular surface of two test pieces in distilled water and aqueous solution at constant sliding speed of 0.5m/s. In severe wear region, the corrosive wear rate Wc increased hastily with NaCl concentration owing to intermetallic adhesion but Wc went down slowly in mild wear region due to lubricating effect of the corrosion product. The critical sliding distance decreased with increasing NaCl concentration due to increased generation rate of the corrosion product and the specific corrosive wear rate has maximum in 1% NaCl aqueous solution at mild wear region. With the variation of matrix, the corrosive wear resistance of the fine acicular bainite was higher than that of coarse upper bainite because of reducing the local cell reaction by carbides. A growth in volume fraction of retained austenite in matrix increased the Wc due to soften surface, but has a declining tendency of Wc in mild wear region.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.522-527
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• 2018

This study investigates the effects of isothermal holding temperature and time on the microstructure, hardness and Charpy impact properties of medium-carbon bainitic steel specimens. Medium-carbon steel specimens with different bainitic microstructures are fabricated by varying the isothermal conditions and their microstructures are characterized using OM, SEM and EBSD analysis. Hardness and Charpy impact tests are also performed to examine the correlation of microstructure and mechanical properties. The microstructural analysis results reveal that granular bainite, bainitic ferrite, lath martensite and retained austenite form differently in the specimens. The volume fraction of granular bainite and bainitic ferrite increases as the isothermal holding temperature increases, which decreases the hardness of specimens isothermally heat-treated at $300^{\circ}C$ or higher. The specimens isothermally heat-treated at $250^{\circ}C$ exhibit the highest hardness due to the formation of lath martensite, irrespective of isothermal holding time. The Charpy impact test results indicate that increasing isothermal holding time improves the impact toughness because of the increase in volume fraction of granular bainite and bainitic ferrite, which have a relatively soft microstructure compared to lath martensite for specimens isothermally heat-treated at $250^{\circ}C$ and $300^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.166-177
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• 1993

Bending fatigue strength tests were made for VC coated die steels which were coated by immersing in a molten borax bath and for hardened die steels which were quenched and tempered, in order to clarify the effect of VC coating at $1000^{\circ}C$ and $1025^{\circ}C$. The material used in this investigation was a representative cold and hot die steels STD11, STD61. The results obtained are as follows. 1) The endurance limit of VC coated die steels was a little lower than that of hardened die steels. It is considered to be mainly due to the decfl.lase of hardness in the substrates. Accordingly, the endurance limit reo covered almost to the level of hardened die steels by an additional diffusion treatment. 2) The initiation point of fatigue fracture of VC coated die steels in reversed bening was on the substrate just under the VC layer. Hence, the endurance limit is corrected to the hardness of this part. 3) But, there is a considerable scatter in this relationship and the endurance limit of VC coated die steels was a little lower than that of hardened die steels with equal hardness. These results suggest that the fatigue strength of VC coated die steels is determined not only by the hardness but also by other factors. For example. the residual stress in the substrate just under VC coating layer is one of the factors besides hardness which is mainly related to the retained austenite(${\gamma}_R$).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2376-2385
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• 2022

Two groups of oxide dispersion-strengthened reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels (A and B) were prepared by adding Y, Ti, and Zr into steels through vacuum induction melting to investigate the inclusions, microstructures, mechanical properties of the alloys. Results showed that particles with Y, Ti, and Zr easily formed. Massive, Zr-rich inclusions were found in B steel. Density of micron inclusions in A steel was 1.42 × 10¹⁴ m^-3, and density of nanoparticles was 3.61 × 10¹⁶ m^-3. More and finer MX carbides were found in steel tempered at 650 ℃, and yield strengths (YS) of A and B steel were 714±2 and 664±3.5 MPa. Thermomechanical processing (TMP) retained many dislocations, which improved the mechanical properties. YSs of A and B treated by TMP were 725±3 and 683±4 MPa. The existence of massive Zr-rich inclusions in B steels interrupted the continuity of the matrix and produced microcracks (fracture), which caused a reduction in mechanical properties. The presence of fine prior austenite grain size and inclusions was attributed to the low DBTTs of the A steels; DBTTs of A650 and A700 alloy were -79 and -65 ℃. Tempering temperature reduction and TMP are simple, readily useable methods that can lead to a superior balance of strength and impact toughness in industry applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.409-414
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• 2000

Three different white cast irons alloyed with Cr, V, Mo and W were prepared in order to study their transformation behavior of matrix structures in heat-treated conditions. The specimens were produced using a 15kg-capacity high frequency induction furnace. Melts were super-heated to $1600^{\circ}C$, and poured at $1550^{\circ}C$ into Y-block pepset molds. Three combinations of the alloying elements were selected so as to obtain the different types of carbides and matrix structures : 3%C-10%Cr-5%Mo-5%W(alloy No. 1), 3%C-10%V-5%Mo-5%W(alloy No. 2) and 3%C-17%Cr-3%V(alloy No. 3). The heat-treatments were conducted as follows: frist of all, as-cast specimens were homogenized at $950^{\circ}C$ for 5h under the vacuum atmosphere. Then, they were austenitized at $1050^{\circ}C$ for 2h and followed by air-hardening in air. The air-hardened specimens were tempered at $300^{\circ}C$ for 3h. The observation of morphology of the matrix structures was carried out in the states of as-cast(AS), air-hardened(AHF) and tempered(AHFT). The matrix structures of each alloy were almost fully pearlitic in the as-cast state but it was transformed to martensite, tempered martensite and retained austenite by the heat-treatments such as air-hardening and tempering.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 1998

In this study, for the safety performance of LNG storage tank, the fracture toughness in X-grooved weld HAZ(heat-affected zone) of $9\%$ Ni steel was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively, and the relation with the change in microstructure was analyzed. The toughness assessment was peformed through the modified CTOD test proposed for thick weldment with X-groove. Additionally, microstructures of HAZ were evaluated by OM, SEM and XRD. From the results, HAZ toughness of SMA(shielded metal arc)-welded $9\%$ Ni steel decreased as the evaluated region approached the fusion line. The decrease in toughness was apparently caused by the increase in the fraction of coarse-grained zone within HAZ. On the other hand, toughness drop with decreasing test temperature in F.L.(fusion line) ${\~}$F.L.+3mm was larger than that in F.L.+5mm${\~}$F.L.+7mm region due to the fact that in the former regions, retained austenite had poor stability.