Effect of Cool Deformation on the Mechanical Properties of Low C Microalloyed Steels

The application of small amounts of deformation at coiling temperatures, i.e. cool deformation, has been shown to be an effective method to improve the mechanical properties of low carbon microalloyed steels. Improvements are related to the effect of cool deformation on strengthening mechanisms such as precipitation, grain refinement and phase transformation. However, it is not clear to what extent mechanical properties will improve when cool deformation is applied after TMP (Thermomechanical Processing). In this work, cool deformation was applied in torsion after a simulation of an industrial rolling schedule to samples of six experimental low carbon steels containing different amounts of Nb, Cu, Mo and Si. In general, it was found that cool deformation improved the mechanical properties of all the steels, and the extent of these improvements was dependent on the chemical composition.