Complete and Incomplete Wetting of Ferrite Grain Boundaries by Austenite in the Low-Alloyed Ferritic Steel

Low-carbon low-alloyed ferritic steels are the main material for the production of high-strength pipes for the transportation of oil and gas. The formation of brittle carbide network during the lifetime of a pipeline could be a reason for a catastrophic failure. Among other reasons, it can be controlled by the morphology of grain boundary (GB) carbides. The microstructure of a low-alloyed ferritic steel containing 0.09 at.% C and small amounts of Si, Mn, Nb, Cu, Al, Ni, and Cr was studied between 300 and 900 °C. The samples were annealed very long time (700 to 4000 h) in order to produce the equilibrium morphology of phases. The (α-Fe)/(α-Fe) GBs can be either completely or incompletely wetted (covered) by the γ-Fe (austenite) above the temperature of eutectoid transition. The portion of (α-Fe)/(α-Fe) GBs completely wetted by γ-Fe is around 90% and does not change much between 750 and 900 °C. The (α-Fe)/(α-Fe) GBs can be either completely or incompletely wetted (covered) by the Fe₃C (cementite) below the temperature of eutectoid transition. The portion of (α-Fe)/(α-Fe) GBs completely wetted by Fe₃C changes below 680 °C between 67 and 77%. The formation of the network of brittle cementite layers between ductile ferrite grains can explain the catastrophic failure of gas- and oil-pipelines after a certain lifetime.