skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Microstructure and properties of quenched-and-aged plates produced from a copper-bearing HSLA steel

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

For the first time in India, quenched-and-tempered (Q and T) plates of copper-bearing high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel have been commercially developed for naval structural applications. A 50 ton production heat was made through electric arc furnace (EAF)-vacuum are degassing (VAD) route and continuously cast into 170 mm thick slabs. These slabs were conditioned, reheated in walking-beam furnace and hot rolled in plate mill into plates of 10 to 16 mm thickness. The as-rolled plates were hardened through oil quenching and subsequently tempered (aged) at 630 C to achieve the combination of high-strength and good low-temperature impact toughness. The microstructures of heat treated plates showed fine acicular ferrite with grain sizes ranging between ASTM No. 9 and 10. From the standpoint of tensile properties, Q and T plates of all thicknesses exhibited significantly higher yield strengths than the minimum stipulated value of 552 MPa for HY-80/HSLA-80 steels. The elongation (22.20 to 26.00%) and reduction in area (62.12 to 67.62%) values achieved also exceeded the respective minimum requirements of 20 and 50% stipulated for such steels. The trend in variation of Charpy V-notch (CVN) impact energies at room temperature, {minus}18, and {minus}62 C not only showed significantly higher values than that stipulated for HY-80 and HSLA-100 steels at {minus}18 C, but also indicated that the CVN impact energies achieved (105.15 to 144.25 J) at {minus}62 C were higher than the estimated value of 90 J for HSLA-80/HSLA-100 steels at this temperature.

OSTI ID:
634623
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, Vol. 7, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1998
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English