Effects of Microstructure on CVN Impact Toughness in Thermomechanically Processed High Strength Microalloyed Steel

Investigation on the correlation between microstructure and CVN impact toughness is of practical importance for the microstructure design of high strength microalloyed steels. In this work, three steels with characteristic microstructures were produced by cooling path control, i.e., steel A with granular bainite (GB), steel B with polygonal ferrite (PF) and martensite-austenite (M-A) constituent, and steel C with the mixture of bainitic ferrite (BF), acicular ferrite (AF), and M-A constituent. Under the same alloy composition and controlled rolling, similar ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures were obtained for the three steels. Steel A achieved the highest upper shelf energy (USE), while large variation of impact absorbed energy has been observed in the ductile-to-brittle transition region. With apparently large-sized PF and M-A constituent, steel B shows the lowest USE and delamination phenomenon in the ductile-to-brittle transition region. Steel C exhibits an extended upper shelf region, intermediate USE, and the fastest decrease of impact absorbed energy in the ductile-to-brittle transition region. The detailed CVN impact behavior is studied and then linked to the microstructural features.