Part X – October 1968 - Papers - Pearlite Morphology in Three Low-Carbon Steels

Pearlite morphology in three commercially produced, low-carbon steels has been studied using optical and electron microscopy. A reduction in the cooling rate from 600° to 6°C per hr increased the interlamellar spacing but had little effect on pearlite content. The form of the lamellae was also assessed in terms of a new parameter, the ratio of lamellae length to interhmellar spacing. The variation of this parameter with cooling rate depended on steel composition. For each steel, it would appear that an optimum cooling rate exists at which lamellar pearlite can be produced to the greatest extent, though not necessarily the same extent in different steels. PeARLITE morphology depends principally on steel composition, prior austenite grain size, and either cooling rate or isothermal transformation temperature. Alloying with manganese,'" fine grain size,374 and slow cooling rates reduce the likelihood that a well-developed lamellar structure will be produced. Instead, imperfect structures usually consisting of partly globular carbides are formed in a ferrite matrix. Such structures have been described as granular.1,2,5 degenerate,6 or semi4-pearlite. Manganese additions also progressively lower the eutectoid temperature and the carbon concentration at the eutectoid so so that, for a given carbon content. the pearlite fraction is increased as manganese is added. While the effects of manganese are understood in a general way, quantitative studies of pearlite morphology have been carried out mainly on steels of eutectoid composition;9 little quantitative data is available for low-carbon steels. Certain anomalies exist in the behavior of steels containing -1.5 pct Mn, however. The pearlite morphology in niobium-treated steel differs from that which is generally accepted as typical of low-carbon/manganese steels in that a reasonably well developed lamellar structure is sometimes observed. In the present work, the effects of changes in cooling rate from 600° to 6°C per hr on the pearlite morphology in three commercially produced, low-carbon steels have been studied by both optical and electron microscopy. I) MATERIALS The steels were of the following types: 1) 0.1 pct C, 0.4 pct Mn steel (En 2, a composition similar to specification SAE 1010); 2) niobium-treated, 0.2 pct C, 1 1/2 pct Mn steel (BS 968:1962); 3) silicon-killed 0.2 pct C, 1 1/2 pct Mn steel (En 144, a composition similar to SAE 1320). The chemical analysis for each steel is given in Table I. To facilitate the comparison of pearlite morphology in the three steels, steels 1 and 3 (which were obtained as 1/2-in. plate and 1-in.-diam bar, respectively) were hot-rolled in the laboratory to $ in. thickness, finishing at around 850°C. The BS 968:1962 was received as 1/8-in. plate finished at 885°C and was not further worked. Specimens from each steel were heat-treated in vacuo at 950°C for 1 hr and cooled at rates of 600°, 60°, and 6°C per hr. 11) EXPERIMENTAL Pearlite contents were determined by point counting (500 points) on longitudinal sections mechanically polished and etched in 2 pct nital. Pearlite morphology is usually considered in terms of interlamellar spacing. For pearlite colonies randomly distributed in space and having a true, constant interlamellar spacing So Pellissier et al.9 determined the distribution curve for the apparent spacings of the lamellae on a random section plane. The areal fraction fs of the pearlite colonies occupied by apparent spacings up to a limiting value S is given by: