• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.187-191
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• 2011

Prior austenite grain size plays an important role in the production of high strength hot-rolled steel. This study investigated the effect of Ti and C contents on the precipitates and prior austenite grain size. Steel with no Ti solutes had prior austenite grain size of about 620 ${\mu}m$. The addition of Ti ~ 0.03 wt.% and 0.11 wt.% reduced the prior austenite grain size to 180 ${\mu}m$ and 120 ${\mu}m$, respectively. The amount of Ti required to significantly decrease the prior austenite grain size was in the range of 0.03 wt.%. However, the amount of carbon required to significantly decrease the prior austenite grain size was not present from 0.04 wt.% to 0.12 wt.%. Oxides of Ti ($Ti_2O_3$) were observed as the Ti content increased to 0.03 wt.%. The specimen containing 0.11 wt.% of Ti exhibited the complex carbides of (Ti, Nb) C. The formation of Ti precipitates was critical to reduce the prior austenite grain size. Furthermore, the consistency of prior austenite grain size increased as the carbon and Ti contents increased. During the reheating process of hot-rolled steel, the most critical factor for controlling the prior austenite grain size seems to be the presence of Ti precipitates.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.55-62
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• 2000

A metallurgical model for the phase transformation kinetics at Coarsened Grain Heat Affected Zone(CGHAZ) on the basis of Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation(JMA equation) was proposed. In this model, the effect of prior austenite grain size on the transformation and the morphological changes of ferrite were considered. Isothermal dilatometer tests were performed to determine the effect of prior austenite grain size (AGS) on the austenite decomposition to ferrite and pearlite in a plain carbon steel. By comparing the calculated volume fraction with measured data, the reliability of the developed model was discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.139-149
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• 2021

In this study, three kinds of bainitic steels are fabricated by controlling the contents of vanadium and boron. High vanadium steel has a lot of carbides and nitrides, and so, during the cooling process, acicular ferrite is well formed. Carbides and nitrides develop fine grains by inhibiting grain growth. As a result, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of high vanadium steel is higher than that of low vanadium steel. In boron added steel, boron segregates at the prior austenite grain boundary, so that acicular ferrite formation occurs well during the cooling process. However, the granular bainite packet size of the boron added steel is larger than that of high vanadium steel because boron cannot effectively suppress grain growth. Therefore, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the boron added steel is lower than that of the low vanadium steel. HAZ (heat affected zone) microstructure formation affects not only vanadium and boron but also the prior austenite grain size. In the HAZ specimen having large prior austenite grain size, acicular ferrite is formed inside the austenite, and granular bainite, bainitic ferrite, and martensite are also formed in a complex, resulting in a mixed acicular ferrite region with a high volume fraction. On the other hand, in the HAZ specimen having small prior austenite grain size, the volume fraction of the mixed acicular ferrite region is low because granular bainite and bainitic ferrite are coarse due to the large number of prior austenite grain boundaries.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2006

Considering ferrite grain size in the base metal, the prediction model for $A_{c3}$ temperature and prior austenite grain size at just above $A_{c3}$ temperature was proposed. In order to predict $A_{c3}$ temperature, the Avrami equation was modified with the variation of ferrite grain size, and its kinetic parameters were measured from non-isothermal data during continuous heating. From calculation using a proposed model, $A_{c3}$ temperatures increased with increasing ferrite grain size and heating rate. Meanwhile, by converting the phase transformation kinetic model that predicts the ferrite grain size from austenite grain size during cooling, a prediction model for prior austenite grain size at just above the $A_{c3}$ temperature during heating was developed.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.43-45
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• 2003

The empirical model for predicting the prior austenite grain size in low-alloy steel weld HAZ was developed through examining the effect of alloying element. The test alloys were made by vacuum induction melting. Grain growth behaviors were observed and analyzed by isothermal grain growth test and subsequent metallography. As a result, it was found that the grain growth might be controlled by grain boundary diffusion and the empirical model for grain growth was presented.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.276-281
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• 2002

A metallurgical model for bainite transformation kinetics in the coarse-grained heat affected zone(CGHAZ) on the basis of an Avrami-type equation was studied. Isothermal transformation tests were carried out to obtain the empirical equations for incubation time and Avrami kinetic constants for C-Mn-Mo-Ni steel. The effect of prior austenite grain size(PAGS) on the reaction rate of bainite was also investigated. Compared with experimental transformation behavior of bainite, the predicted behavior was in good agreement. It was also found that a smaller grain size retard the bainite reaction rate, contrary to the classical grain size effect and this is considered to be caused by constraint of grain size to bainite growth.

• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.11-14
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• 2002

A metallurgical model for bainite transformation kinetics in the coarse-grained heat affected zone(CGHAZ) on the basis of an Avrami-type equation was studied. Isothermal transformation tests were carried out to obtain the empirical equations for incubation time and Avrami kinetic constants for C-Mn-Mo-Ni steel. The effect of prior austenite grain size(PAGS) on the reaction rate of bainite was also investigated. Compared with experimental transformation behavior of bainite, the predicted behavior was in good agreement. It was also found that a smaller grain size retard the bainite reaction rate, contrary to the classical grain size effect and this is considered to be caused by constraint of grain size to bainite growth.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.104-113
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• 2010

In this study, to predict the microstructure in weld HAZ of low alloyed steel, prediction model for the phase transformation considering the influence of prior austenite grain size and cooling rate was developed. For this study, six low alloyed steels were designed and the effect of alloying elements was also investigated. In order to develop the prediction model for ferrite transformation, isothermal ferrite transformation behaviors were analyzed by dilatometer system and 'Avrami equation' which was modified to consider the effect of prior austenite grain size. After that, model for ferrite phase transformation during continuous cooling was proposed based on the isothermal ferrite transformation model through applying the 'Additivity rule'. Also, start temperatures of ferrite transformation were predicted by $A_{r3}$ considering the cooling rate. CCT diagram was calculated through this model, these results were in good agreement with the experimental results. After ferrite transformation, bainite transformation was predicted using Esaka model which corresponded most closely to the experimental results among various models. The start temperatures of bainite transformation were determined using K. J. Lee model. Phase fraction of martensite was obtained according to phase fractions of ferrite and bainite.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2021

High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels show excellent toughness when trace amounts of transition elements are added. In steels, prior austenite grain size (PAGS), which is often determined by the number of added elements, is a critical factor in determining the mechanical properties of the material. In this study, we used two etching methods to measure and compare the PAGS of specimens with bainitic HSLA steels having different Nb contents These two methods were nital etching and picric acid etching. Both methods confirmed that the sample with high Nb content exhibited smaller PAGS than its low Nb counterpart because of Nb's ability to hinder austenite recrystallization at high temperatures. Although both etching approaches are beneficial to PAGS estimation, the picric acid etching method has the advantage of enabling observation of the interface containing Nb precipitate. By contrast, the nital etching method has the advantage of a very short etching time (5 s) in determining the PAGS, with the picric acid etching method being considerably longer (5 h).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2003

As a research for developing fine-grained high strength low carbon steels, the effects of austenitization temperature and hot deformation on microstructure was investigated in 0.15 wt.% carbon steels with microalloying elements such as Nb and Ti. When the steels were reheated at $1250^{\circ}C$, Nb containing steel showed very coarse austenite grain size of $200{\mu}m$ whereas Nb-Ti steel did fine one of $70{\mu}m$ because Ti carbonitrides could suppress the austenite grain growth. In case of 50% reduction at $850^{\circ}C$, the austenite grains in the Nb steel partially recrystallized while those in the Nb-Ti steel fully recrystallized probably due to finer prior austenite grains.For the Nb-Ti steel, ferrite grain size was not sensitively changed with austenitization temperature and compression strain and, severe deformation of 80% reduction was not essentially necessary to refine ferrite grains to about $3{\mu}m$ which could be obtained through lighter deformation of 40% reduction.