Low Temperature Deformation Induced Microstructure Refinement and Consequent Ultrahigh Toughness of a 20Mn2SiCrNi Bainitic Steel

In this paper, we have studied the influence of deformation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 20Mn2SiCrNi bainitic high strength steel processed through a hot rolling route. Simulation of different temperatures and degrees of deformation was carried out via Gleeble-1500. The study suggested that grain size is refined when the deformation is carried out at lower temperature (> Ac3). When the degree of deformation was increased from 20% to 60%, grain size and microstructure were both refined and the size of retained austenite was reduced. The tensile strength increased from 1345 MPa to 1432 MPa. The impact toughness increased from 115 J/cm(2) to 210 J/cm(2) at room temperature, from 63 J/cm(2) to 142 J/cm(2) at -40 degrees C. Furthermore, it was observed that the microstructure after air cooling was composed of granular bainite (GB), lath bainite (LB) and martensite/austenite (MA) island for different deformation conditions. The study reveals that the impact toughness of 20Mn2SiCrNi bainitic high strength steel can be increased by increasing the degree of deformation.