Development of wear resistant medium carbon

dual phase steels and their mechanical properties

Rajnesh Tyagi, S. K. Nath and S. Ray

Dual phase (DP) steels containing four different amounts of martensite ranging from 42 to 72 vol.-% have been
developed from 0.42 wt-% carbon normalised steel by intercritical heat treatment at a Ž xed temperature of 740°C
but varying holding times followed by water quenching. Mechanical properties of dual phase steels with increasing
volume fraction of martensite have been investigated highlighting the effect of martensite content. The
macrohardness has been found to increase with increasing martensite content in dual phase steel. The yield and
tensile strengths have been found to increase with increasing amount of martensite whereas the percentage
elongation and the percentage area reduction have been found to decrease. This has been attributed to the presence
of hard and brittle martensite phase, which increases the strength at the expense of ductility. The mode of fracture
has been found to change from purely ductile to mixed (ductilezbrittle) as the martensite volume fraction increases
from 42 to 72% in dual phase steels. Friction and wear properties under dry sliding conditions have also been found
to improve with increasing martensite volume fraction in dual phase steels. The applications of medium carbon DP
steels in the Ž eld of mineral processing and mining have been discussed. MST/5974

Keywords: Dual phase steels, Wear resistant steels, Mechanical properties

At the time the work was carried out the authors were in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India. Rajnesh Tyagi (rajneesh00@rediffmail.com)is now in the Mechanical
Engineering Group, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani 333031, India. Manuscript received 16 September 2003;
accepted 28 October 2003.
# 2004 IoM Communications Ltd. Published by Maney for the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

steels has been undertaken. Dual phase steels having four

Introduction
Ferrite – martensite dual phase (DP) steels have micro-
structures containing hard martensite islands embedded in a
soft and ductile ferrite matrix. This unique microstructure
results in characteristic mechanical properties like absence
of yield point phenomena, large ratio of tensile strength to
yield strength (YS), high rates of work hardening, high total
and uniform elongation, excellent forming characteristics
and high fracture toughness.1 – 5 It has, therefore, become
possible to employ DP steel widely in automobile com-
ponents such as bodies, chassis, bumpers, and wheel discs
and rims.1 – 4 Dual phase steels have been designed to have
low carbon with or without alloying elements and heat
treated or hot rolled to have martensite volume fractions
(MVFs) rarely exceeding 15% because beyond this percen-
tage, formability of DP steels is badly affected.1 ,6
Recent studies have shown that low carbon DP steels also
have higher wear resistance and lower coefŽ cient of friction
than ferrite – pearlite steel having the same carbon content.7
The unique combinationof hard martensite islands embedded
in ductile ferrite matrix is ideally suitable for antifriction
wear resistant materials. The hard martensite islands act as
load bearing phase and provide lower real area of contact
resulting in lower wear rate.7 Low carbon dual phase steels
have found application in making pipelines for transporta-
tion of mineral slurry8 and other wear resistant applications.
Recent studies9 ,1 0 on medium carbon DP steels have
shown that by increasing the martensite volume fraction
and the carbon content to 0.40%, wear resistance of the DP
steels improves further and the friction coefŽ cient also gets
lowered at the same time.
Such medium carbon DP steels have tremendous poten-
tial for applications in the Ž eld of mineral processing and
mining equipments. Wire mesh of medium carbon DP steels
is already being employed in the mineral processing
industries.8
In view of the tremendous potential of medium carbon
DP steels, a systematic study on medium carbon dual phase
different martensite volume fractions have been developed
by intercritical heat treatment in the present investigation
and the effect of MVF on the mechanical properties of these
steels has been studied. Dry sliding wear tests have been
carried out to evaluate their friction and wear behaviour in
view of their tribological applications.
Experimental procedure
Cylindrical pin samples (30 mm64.0 mm dia.) of commer-
cial grade 0.42% carbon steel of composition Fe – 0.42C –
0.15Si – 0.5Mn – 0.04P – 0.045 (wt-%) were used for the
current investigation. All the samples were normalised at
860°C for 20 min. A number of these samples were inter-
critically heat treated to develop dual phase structures
having four different MVFs in a matrix of ferrite. Inter-
critical heat treatment was conducted in a vertical tube
furnace at 740°C for 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 min followed by
water quenching. By varying intercritical holding time at a
given intercritical temperature, austenite (martensite on
quenching) volume fraction can be varied.1 1 ,1 2 Volume
fractions of martensite in dual phase steels have been deter-
mined by the point counting method.1 3 The size of ferrite
and martensite islands in dual phase steels was measured by
intercept method with a microscale inserted into the eye-
piece of the microscope. The microscale was Ž rst calibrated
with a given standard scale at the magniŽ cation of the
study. At least 20 measurements were taken randomly to
estimate the average grain size.
Macrohardness and microhardness of these samples were
measured at loads of 30 kg and 0.01 kg respectively, using
calibrated standard hardness testing machines. Microhard-
ness measurements were taken on a Tukon hardness tester.
The tensile tests were conducted at ambient temperature
on a tensometer having maximum capacity of 25 kN
supplied by HounsŽ eld Test Equipment Ltd, England.
The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the specimens has

DOI 10.1179/026708304225012062 Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20 645
646 Tyagi et al. Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels

a a

b b

1 Optical micrographs of dual phase steel, DP1, showing

dark regions of martensite and bright regions of ferrite
(etchant 2% nital)

been estimated by dividing the maximum tensile force by the

initial cross-sectional area of the specimens in units of
MN m2 2 or MPa. The yield stress in the case of dual phase
steels has been calculated by adopting the 0.2% offset proof
stress method. The engineering stress n. engineering strain
curves have been plotted from the load – extension curves.
The fractographic studies were carried out by examining the
fractured surfaces under a LEO 435 VP scanning electron
microscope (SEM) to explore the possible operating mode
of fracture.
Friction and wear characteristics of these steels have been
investigated under laboratory conditions by carrying out
dry sliding wear tests at different normal loads of 14.7,
19.6, 24.5, 29.4 and 34.3 N and at a Ž xed sliding speed
of 1.15 m s – 1 using a pin-on-disc machine supplied by
Ducom, Bangalore, India.7
Results
The optical micrographs of dual phase steels developed by
intercritical heat treatment at 740°C for varying holding
times followed by water quenching are shown in Figs. 1
and 2. Figure 1a and b show the optical micrographs at
lower and higher magniŽ cation respectively, of dual phase
steel developed by holding 2.0 min followed by water
quenching (designated as DP1). The structure shows dark
etching martensite islands in the bright regions of ferrite.
There could be small amounts of retained austensite associ-
ated with martensite. However, it is not distinguishable in
the micrograph. At higher magniŽ cation, martensite needles
in the dark areas could be resolved (see Figure 1b). Similar
microstructural features are also observed in Fig. 2a – c in
dual phase steels for increasing holding times of 2.5, 3.0 and
3.5 min, designated as DP2, DP3 and DP4 respectively. The
volume fractions of martensite, as estimated by point
c
2 Optical micrograph of dual phase steels, showing dark
regions of martensite and bright regions of ferrite
(etchant 2% nital)
counting technique, are 0.42. 0.51, 0.59 and 0.72 in DP1,
DP2, DP3 and DP4 steel respectively.
The variation of martensite volume fraction with inter-
critical holding (ICH) time has been plotted in Fig. 3. It is
observed that as the intercritical heat treatment time
increases at a constant temperature of 740°C, austensite
(martensite on water quenching) volume fraction increases
from 42% for 2.0 min of holding time to 72% after 3.5 min
of holding before it saturates at long holding times. The
variations of the average size of martensite islands and
ferrite grains with intercritical holding time are shown in
Fig. 4. The martensite island size increases with increasing
holding time whereas the ferrite grain size decreases.
The macrohardness has been measured and expressed in
terms of the Brinell number for the dual phase steels. The
variation of the macrohardness with martensite volume
fraction (expressed in per cent) in DP steels is shown in
Fig. 5a. The hardness has been observed to vary linearly
from 284 HB for DP1 steel to 373 HB for DP4. The
microhardness of the phases present in the DP steels has
also been measured and expressed in terms of Vickers
hardness. The variation of the microhardness of martensite

Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20

 Tyagi et al. Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels 647

3 Variation of martensite volume fraction in dual phase

steels with intercritical holding time

and ferrite with intercritical annealing (holding) time is

shown in Fig. 5b. It is observed that the microhardness of
martensite decreases linearly whereas the microhardness of
ferrite increases linearly with increasing intercritical holding
time.
Figure 6a – d shows the stress – strain curves of the DP
steels with increasing volume fraction of martensite from
DP1 to DP4. It is observed that all the DP steels under
investigation show a continuous type of yielding which can
be judged from the absence of the yield point in the stress –
strain behaviour as shown in Fig. 6a – d.
The variation of YS and UTS with martensite volume
fraction (expressed in per cent) are shown in Fig. 7. The
yield and tensile strengths have been found to increase
linearly with increasing martensite volume fraction from 42
to 72 vol.-% in dual phase steels. The gap between the YS
and UTS decreases as the volume fraction of martensite
increases from 42 to 72 vol.-%, at which point the values of
YS and UTS coincide.
5 a variation of macrohardness with martensite volume
fraction in dual phase steels; b variation of microhard-
ness of martensite/ferrite with intercritical holding
time in dual phase steels

The variation of percentage total elongation of the dual

4 Variation of average martensite island/ferrite grain
size with intercritical holding time in dual phase steels
phase steels with martensite volume fraction (expressed in
per cent) is shown in Fig. 8. It is observed that percentage
total elongation decreases linearly from 13 to 4% as the
volume fraction of martensite increases from 42 to 72 vol.-%
in dual phase steels. The variation of percentage reduction
in the area of cross-section with martensite volume fraction
is shown in Fig. 9. It is observed that the reduction in area
decreases from 22 to 5% as the volume fraction of marten-
site increases from 42 to 72% in dual phase steels.
The strain hardening index has been estimated from the
true uniform strain and the variation of strain hardening
index with the martensite volume fraction is shown in
Fig. 10. It is observed that the strain hardening index
decreases linearly with increasing volume fraction of
martensite from 42 to 72% corresponding to DP1 and
DP4 steel respectively.
The micrographs of the fractured surface of tensile
specimen of dual phase steels are shown in Fig. 11a – d. The
presence of dimples can be seen in both of the micrographs
shown in Fig. 11a and b indicating a ductile mode of

Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20

648 Tyagi et al. Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels
a DP1; b DP2; c DP3; d DP4
6 The engineering stress – strain curves for dual phase steels
fracture in DP1 and DP2 steels. However, smaller size
dimples and facets can clearly be seen in Fig. 11c and d
indicating a mixed (ductilezbrittle) mode of fracture in
DP3 and DP4 steels. Figure 12 shows the variation of the
average dimple size with martensite volume fraction in DP
steels. It is observed that average dimple size decreases with
increasing martensite volume fraction in DP steels.
Figure 13 shows the variation of wear rate with marten-
site volume fraction in dual phase steels. Wear rate is rate of
volume loss in wear with sliding distance under a given load
and sliding velocity. It is observed that, at a given load, wear
rate decreases linearly with increasing volume fraction of
martensite. Similarly, the average coefŽ cient of friction also
decreases with increasing volume fraction of martensite, as
evident from Figure 14.
Discussion
The continuous yielding behaviour observed in tensile
stress – strain curves of hypoeutectoid plain carbon dual
phase steels DP1, DP2, DP3 and DP4 in the present
Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20
investigation is shown in Fig. 6a – d which is in agreement
with the observation of other researchers.2 ,3 ,1 1 ,1 2 ,1 4 The non
occurrence of the yield point in these ferrite – martensite
dual phase steels is attributed to the high mobile dislocation
density and residual stresses generated in the ferrite phase
immediately surrounding the martensite islands.1 The trans-
formation of austenite to martensite in the ferrite matrix is
accompanied by approximately 4% expansion1 in volume.
During quenching after intercritical annealing, this expan-
sion is accommodated in the surrounding ferrite phase
resulting in its plastic deformation and enhanced disloca-
tion density.
The increase in the hardness, YS and UTS of dual phase
steels with increasing intercritical holding time (ICH time)
at a particular temperature may be attributed to the
formation of an increasing amount of the austenite during
austenitisation and its subsequent transformation to
martensite during quenching. As indicated in Fig. 3, the
intercritical annealing at 740°C for 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 min
yields respectively, 42, 51, 59 and 72% martensite volume
fraction in dual phase steel containing 0.42 wt-% carbon.
However, there is no increase in martensite volume fraction
(72%) beyond 3.5 min of intercritical holding and this may
 Tyagi et al.
7 Variation of  ow stress with martensite volume frac-
tion in dual phase steels
be explained on the basis of austenite formation during
intercritical austenitisation.1 5 In the initial stage, austenite
nucleates at the interfaces of ferrite and cementite plates of
pearlite. The growth of the austenite takes place by (a)
dissolution of cementite plates and at the same time, (b)
diffusion of carbon also taking place from austenite to
ferrite through the austenite – ferrite interface (see Fig. 15a).
These processes directly determine the distribution of
austenite as grain boundary allotriomorphs and intergra-
nular idomorphs in the intercritically annealed specimen at
low temperatures. Initially austenite pools growing at the
cementite – ferrite interfaces have a carbon content (C1 )
greater than the eutectoid composition as shown in Fig. 15a
and b. As austenite grows in volume fraction, its carbon
content decreases from C1 to C2 . Carbon corresponding to
point C2 is the equilibrium carbon content in the austenite,
which is in equilibrium with proeutectoid ferrite for a given
intercritical annealing temperature. Once all the pearlite is
transformed into austenite, growth of austenite takes place
8 Variation of percentage total elongation (ductility)
with martensite volume fraction
Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels 649
9 Variation of percentage reduction in area with marten-
site volume fraction in dual phase steels
by diffusion of carbon into ferrite. This process is slower
and is controlled by diffusion of carbon through austenite.
The last step involved is the equilibration of carbon between
austenite and ferrite, which is very slow. When an alloying
element such as manganese comes into the picture the whole
process becomes even slower because manganese diffuses
substitutionally unlike interstitial diffusion of carbon, and
manganese is also a mild carbide former. From the micro-
structures of the dual phase steels as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
one can clearly see the increase in martensite (darker
regions) content as the holding time increases from 2.0 min
(DP1:42% martensite) to 3.5 min (DP4:72% martensite –
maximum value or equilibrium amount). The martensite
islands become increasingly interconnected with increasing
volume fraction of martensite.
The decrease in microhardness of martensite with inter-
critical annealing time as observed in Fig. 5b, may be easily
explained on the basis of mechanism of austenite formation
during intercritical annealing. Initially, austenite forming
10 Variation of strain hardening index with martensite
volume fraction
Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20
650 Tyagi et al. Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels

a b

c d

a DP1; b DP2; c DP3; d DP4

11 SEM fractographs showing tensile fracture surface of dual phase steels

primarily by dissolution of the cementite plate has a higher
carbon content compared to that obtained at equilibrium.
Martensite formed with this austenite has a high micro-
hardness. Later, when austenite grows primarily by dif-
fusion of carbon into ferrite, the carbon content in austenite
will decrease and so martensite resulting from this austenite
will have a lower hardness. The increase in microhardness of
ferrite as shown in Fig. 5b can be explained from the fact
that the carbon content of ferrite increases from 0.002 (C4 )
at room temperature to approximately 0.02 (C3 ) when the
present steel is heated to 740°C as shown in Fig. 15b.This
increase in carbon content of the ferrite is gradual and is
re ected in the variation of microhardness of ferrite with
intercritical holding time. The increase in hardness, yield
strength and tensile strength with increasing intercritical
holding time has been attributed to the increasing volume
fraction of martensite (austenite before quenching) as
explained above, which is a strong load bearing phase in
ferrite – martensite dual phase steels, as shown in Figs. 5a
and 7.

12 Variation of average dimple size martensite volume 13 Variation of wear rate with martensite volume frac-
fraction in DP steels tion in DP steels

Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20

 Tyagi et al.
14 Variation of average coefŽ cient of friction with mar-
tensite volume fraction in DP steels
The decreasing ductility of the dual phase steels with
increasing martensite volume fraction as shown in Figs. 8
and 9, is also in agreement with the results obtained by
other researchers.2 ,3 ,8 ,1 4 With increasing intercritical hold-
ing time at a Ž xed temperature, the martensite volume frac-
tion increases till its equilibrium amount is reached. Because
martensite is a hard and brittle phase, the increasing volume
fraction of martensite imparts enhanced hardness and
strength to the steel at the expense of its ductility, which not
surprisingly diminishes.
The decrease in the strain hardening coefŽ cient with
increasing martensite volume fraction as shown in Fig. 10,
is in agreement with the work of Davies.3 The decrease in
strain hardening coefŽ cient may be explained on the basis of
the theory of work hardening proposed by Ashby,1 6 which
states that the rate of work hardening increases with increas-
ing martensite volume fraction and decreasing martensite
island size in dual phase steels. In the present study,
although there is an increase in the volume fraction of
martensite, the size of martensite is also observed to increase
and therefore the net effect is a decrease in the strain
hardening coefŽ cient with increasing martensite volume
fraction. In these dual phase steels, it appears that increas-
ing the island size of martensite has the dominating effect in
determining strain hardening.
An examination of the fractographs of the tensile
specimens of the DP1 and DP2, shown in Fig. 11a and b,
indicates ductile fracture. The dimples, which are the charac-
teristics of a ductile fracture, can be observed in these frac-
tographs. Fractographs of DP3 and DP4 steels as shown in
Fig. 11c and d exhibit a mixed (ductilezbrittle) mode of
fracture as both the dimples and the facets can be clearly
observed. The presence of dimples may be attributed to the
microvoids nucleated at the sites of localised strain dis-
continuity, such as that associated with second phase
particles (martensite), inclusions and dislocation pile-ups.1 7
As the strain in the material increases, the microvoids grow,
coalesce and eventually form a continuous fracture surface
showing numerous cuplike depressions commonly referred
to as dimples. The size of the dimples on a fracture surface is
governed by the number and distribution of microvoids that
are nucleated. When the nucleation sites are few and widely
spaced, the microvoids grow to a larger size before coalesc-
ing and result in a fracture surface that contains large
dimples.1 7 Small size dimples are formed on the
surface when numerous nucleating sites are activated at
Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels 651
15 a schematic diagram of carbon concentration proŽ le
during initial stage of intercritical austenitization of
carbon steel (C0 ) at 740°C; b Fe rich portion of Fe – C
phase diagram
ferrite/martensite boundaries and adjacent microvoids join
before they have an opportunity to grow to a larger size,
and fracture occurs. This seems to be a probable case in DP
steels with an increasing amount of second phase particles,
i.e. martensite islands, which act as the nucleation sites for
the microvoids resulting in decreasing dimple size with increas-
ing volume fraction of martensite as evident from Fig. 12.
The wear rate decreases with increasing volume fraction
of martensite in dual phase steels as shown in Fig. 13 and
this has been attributed to the higher hardness imparted by
martensite, which results in a lower real area of contact and
therefore a lower wear rate in steels containing relatively
higher amounts of martensite.9 Similarly, the decrease in the
average coefŽ cient of friction as seen from Fig. 14 has been
attributed to the formation of a relatively thicker and well
compacted transfer layer of oxide in steels having a rela-
tively higher amount of martensite resulting in the for-
mation of junctions of weaker shear strength. These junctions
require lower energy to shear and eventually result in a
decrease in the coefŽ cient of friction.9
Conclusions
1. The martensite volume fraction in the dual phase steels
increases initially with increasing time for intercritical
holding at 740°C. However, the amount of martensite
(72%) saturates after intercritical holding for 3.5 min in
medium carbon steel containing 0.42 wt-% carbon at a
temperature of 740°C.
2. The hardness, the YS and the UTS in dual phase steels
increase with increasing volume fraction of martensite,
which is a hard and load bearing phase.
Materials Science and Technology May 2004 Vol. 20
652 Tyagi et al. Wear resistant medium carbon dual phase steels
3. However, the ductility measured in terms of percen-
tage total elongation and percentage reduction in area
decreases with increasing martensite volume fraction.
4. The microhardness of the martensite decreases whereas
that of the ferrite in dual phase steels increases with increas-
ing time of intercritical heat treatment owing to the redis-
tribution of carbon among the phases.
5. The size of martensite islands increases while the size
of the proeutectoid ferrite grains decreases with increasing
time of intercritical heat treatment owing to the growth of
austenite into proeutectoid ferrite areas.
6. The increasing volume fraction of martensite in dual
phase steels is accompanied by a decrease in the strain
hardening coefŽ cient, which has been attributed to the
dominating in uence of increasing size of martensite islands.
7. DP1 and DP2 steels containing 42 and 51% of marten-
site respectively, show the ductile fracture. However, DP3
and DP4 steels, containing 59 and 72% of martensite respec-
tively, have shown a mixed (ductilezbrittle) mode of fracture.
8. Wear rate and average coefŽ cient of friction of the
dual phase steels decreases with increasing volume fraction
of martensite which may be attributed to decreasing real
area of contact caused by the higher hardness of steels
containing relatively higher amounts of martensite.
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