An understanding of the damage evolution prior to crack initiation in advanced structural materials is of vital importance to the fatigue community in both academia and industry. Features known as the Persistent Slip Bands (PSBs) play an integral role in this damage evolution. Therefore, PSBs have been the focus of a lot of science-based investigations over the years. However, most existing studies in this area are restricted to analysis of PSBs in single crystal face centered cubic (FCC) materials. Moreover, these studies lack a quantitative analysis of the evolution of the fatigue damage (or PSBs) as a function of the material microstructure. This is especially true for relatively modern materials such as the Advanced High Strength Structural (AHSS) steels that are gaining a lot of importance in the automotive sector. Accordingly, the objective of this research is to quantitatively characterize evolution of PSBs in three AHSS steels having different microstructures as a function of number of fatigue cycles and strain amplitude. For this purpose strain controlled interrupted fatigue tests have been performed on two dual phase steels (DP-590 and DP-980) having different relative amounts of tempered martensite and a ferritic high strength low alloy steel (HR-590). Digital image analysis and Stereology have been used for unbiased quantitative characterization of the evolution of global geometry of the PSB colonies as function of number of fatigue cycles and strain amplitude. Evolution of PSB colonies has been couched in terms of variation of PSB colony volume fraction and total surface area unit volume, and total surface area of individual PSBs per unit volume and three-dimensional angular orientation distribution of the PSBs. For this purpose, new stereological techniques have been developed for estimation of the three-dimensional angular orientation distribution. The stereological data reveal that during strain controlled in these AHSS steels, volume fraction of the PSB colonies varies linearly with the their total surface area per unit volume. Detailed analysis of the stereological data leads to a simple geometric model for evolution of the PSB colonies in the three AHSS steels, which accounts for all observed data trends.

The main purpose of this thesis is to improve the fundamental knowledge of non-isothermal tempering of martensite phase and its effects on the reduction in hardness (softening) with respect the base metal occurring at the heat affected zone (HAZ) of resistance spot welded dual-phase (DP) steels. This thesis also aims at understanding the influence of HAZ-softening on the joint performance of various DP steel grades. The tempering of martensite occurring at the sub-critical HAZ (SC-HAZ) of resistance spot welded DP600, DP780 and DP980 steels has been systematically evaluated by microhardness testing through Vickers indentation and the degree of tempering has been correlated to the HAZ-softening. From the joint performance analysis of similar and dissimilar steel grade combinations assessed through standardized testing methods, three important issues have been targeted: a) the joint strength (maximum load to failure), b) the location of failure (failure mode), and c) the physical characteristic of the weld that determines certain type of failure (weld nugget size). In addition, a partial tensile test has been conducted in order to evaluate the initiation of failure in dissimilar steel grade combinations. It has been shown that HAZ-softening lowered the weld size at which transition from interfacial to pullout failure mode takes place along with increased load-bearing capacity and higher energy absorption. Thus, it is concluded from mechanical testing that HAZ-softening benefits the lap-shear tensile joint performance of resistance spot welded DP steels by facilitating pullout failures through failure initiation at the SC-HAZ (tempered region). Instrumented nanoindentation testing was employed to further investigate HAZ-softening along the SC-HAZ by evaluating individual phases of ferrite matrix and tempered martensite islands. Although the ferrite matrix presented a slight reduction in hardness at nanoscale, higher reduction in hardness (softening) resulted for tempered martensite; thus confirming that tempered martensite is the major contributor to softening at micro-scale. A comparison between nanohardness and microhardness testing made at different distances from the line of lower critical temperature of transformation (Ac1) allowed revealing the actual extension of the SC-HAZ. In this regard, good correlation was obtained between nanohardness results along the SC-HAZ and the microstructural changes analyzed by electron microscopy (i.e., the tempering of martensite occurring at various distances far from Ac1 was correlated to low temperature tempering of dual phase steels). An in-depth analysis of the tempering of martensite phase at high temperature in DP steel subjected non-isothermal conditions i.e., rapid heating, extremely short time at peak temperature and rapid cooling (resistance spot welding), has been carried out mainly through analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, an isothermal tempering condition (i.e., slow heating and long time at peak temperature) in DP steel has been evaluated for complementing the analysis. Both non-isothermal and isothermal conditions have been correlated to the softening behaviour. TEM analysis of the base metal in the DP steel indicated that the morphology of the martensite phase is dependent on its carbon content, and its tempering characteristics are similar to that of equal carbon containing martensitic steel. The isothermally tempered structure is characterized by coarsening and spheroidization of cementite (θ) and complete recovery of the martensite laths; whereas precipitation of fine quasi-spherical intralath θ-carbides, coarser plate-like interlath θ-carbides, decomposition of retained austenite into elongated θ-carbides, and partial recovery of the lath structure were observed after non-isothermal tempering of DP steel. This difference in tempering behaviour is attributed to synergistic effect of delay in cementite precipitation due to higher heating rate, and insufficient time for diffusion of carbon that delays the third stage of tempering process (cementite coarsening and recrystalization) during non-isothermal. The finer size and the plate-like morphology of the precipitated carbides along with the partial recovery of the lath structure observed after non-isothermal tempering strongly influenced the softening behaviour of DP steel. The chemical analysis of θ-carbides through extraction replicas for three different DP steels revealed that the chemistry of the carbides is inherited from the parent DP steel during non-isothermal tempering at high temperature confirming that non-isothermal tempering DP steel is predominantly controlled by carbon diffusion.

Transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels have excellent strength, ductility and work hardening behaviour, which can be attributed to a phenomenon known as the TRIP effect. The TRIP effect involves a metastable phase, retained austenite (RA), transforming into martensite as a result of applied stress or strain. This transformation absorbs energy and improves the work hardening rate of the steel, delaying the onset of necking. This work describes two distinct TRIP steel microstructures and focuses on how microstructure affects the RA-to-martensite transformation and the uniaxial tensile behaviour. A two-step heat treatment was applied to an aluminum-alloyed TRIP steel to obtain a microstructure consisting of equiaxed grains of ferrite surrounded by bainite, martensite and RA -- the equiaxed microstructure. The second microstructure was produced by first austenitizing and quenching the steel to produce martensite, followed by the two-step heat treatment. The resulting microstructure (labelled the lamellar microstructure) consisted of elongated grains of ferrite with bainite, martensite and RA grains. Both microstructural variants had similar initial volume fractions of RA. A series of interrupted tensile tests and ex-situ magnetic measurements were conducted to examine the RA transformation during uniform elongation. Similar tests were also conducted on an equiaxed microstructure and a lamellar microstructure with similar ultimate tensile strengths. Results show that the work hardening rate is directly related to the RA transformation rate. The slower transformation rate, or higher RA stability, that was observed in the lamellar microstructure enables sustained work hardening at high strains. In contrast, the equiaxed microstructure has a lower RA stability and thus exhibits high values of work hardening at low strains, but the effect is quickly exhausted. Several microstructural factors that affect RA stability were examined, including RA grain size, aspect ratio, carbon content and spatial distribution of the phases. Two of these factors were characteristic of only the lamellar microstructures and led to higher RA stabilities: elongated RA grains and RA grains being primarily surrounded by bainite. The results were also compared with previous work on a silicon-alloyed TRIP steel to show that the aluminum-alloyed compositions could achieve similar, if not better, combinations of strength and ductility. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-24 16:52:28.032

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In this work, nozzle clogging in the submerged entry nozzle in continuous casting of Al killed steels has been studied. The study has been based on low silicon Al killed SAE 1006 (1.2006) and SAE 1008 (1.2008) grades. In this study, castabilities of 75 heats for 1.2006 steel grades and 75 heats for 1.2008 steel grades have been investigated. Castabilities of the experimental heats have been found to be affected by Al content in oxide form (Aloxy) and Ca content of the liquid steel. Castabilities have been found to decrease with increase in Aloxy and to increase with increase in Ca content and Ca/Aloxy ratio. Reoxidation has been found not to affect the castability appreciably.

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) from the external surface of a buried pipeline is a serious matter and can cause significant economic and environmental losses. Despite of many research works which have been done on the understanding of crack initiation and propagation mechanisms, these mechanisms are still being debated. This research studied the crack growth behaviour of different pipeline steels including two types of X65, one X52 and one X80 pipeline steels in near-neutral pH environments. Crack growth behaviour of all steels has been found to be consistent with that of true corrosion fatigue. Crack growth rates were correlated with (K)2Kmax/f0.1. It was revealed that cracking behaviour of pipeline steels in near neutral pH environments is material dependent. Highest crack growth rate was seen in the steel which highest amount of hydrogen atoms could be generated and stored in its microstructure to contribute in cracking procedure due to hydrogen embrittlement effect. / Materials Engineering

Ferritic stainless steels are the most commonly used materials for solid oxide fuel cell interconnect application. Although these alloys may meet the criteria for interconnect application for short periods of service, their application is limited for long-term use (i.e., 40,000 h) due to poor oxidation behaviour that results in a rapid increase in contact resistance. In addition, volatile Cr species migrating from the chromia scale can poison the cathode resulting in a considerable drop in performance of the cell. Coatings and surface modifications have been developed in order to mitigate the abovementioned problems. In this study, composite electrodeposition of reactive element containing particles in a metal matrix was considered as a solution to the interconnect problems. Nickel and Co were used as the metal matrix and LaCrO3 particles as the reactive element containing particles. The role of the particles was to improve the oxidation resistance and oxide scale adhesion, while the role of Ni or Co was to provide a matrix for embedding of the particles. Also, oxidation of the Ni or Co matrix led to the formation of conductive oxides. Moreover, as another part of this study, the effect of substrate composition on performance of steel interconnects was investigated. Numerous experimental techniques were used to study and characterise the oxidation behaviour of the composite coatings, as well as the metal-oxide scale interface properties. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), as well as surface analysis techniques including Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), were used for the purpose of characterization. The substrate used for coating was AISI-SAE 430 stainless steel that is considered as a typical, formerly used interconnect material. Also, for the purpose of the metal-oxide scale interfacial study, ZMG232 stainless steel that is a specially designed interconnect alloy was used. It is shown that the composite coatings greatly reduce the contact resistance and effectively inhibit Cr outward migration. In addition, it was determined that the presence of impurities in the steel, especially Si, and the absence of reactive elements drastically contribute to interconnect degradation. / Materials Science and Engineering