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Procedia Structural Integrity 33 (2021) 1209–1214

IGF26 - 26th International Conference on Fracture and Structural Integrity

IGF26 - 26th International Conference on Fracture and Structural Integrity
Evolution of non-metallic inclusions with cold drawing in
Evolution of non-metallic inclusions with cold drawing in
progressively cold drawn eutectoid pearlitic steel wires
progressively cold drawn eutectoid pearlitic steel wires
Jesús Toribio *, Francisco-Javier Ayaso, Rocío Rodríguez
Jesús Toribio *, Francisco-Javier Ayaso, Rocío Rodríguez
Fracture & Structural Integrity Research Group (FSIRG), University of Salamanca (USAL)
Fracture & Structural Integrity
E.P.S., Campus Research
Viriato, Group
Avda. (FSIRG),
Requejo University
33, 49022 Zamora,of Salamanca
Spain (USAL)
E.P.S., Campus Viriato, Avda. Requejo 33, 49022 Zamora, Spain

Abstract
Abstract
This article focuses on the analysis of the evolution of inclusions present in eutectoid pearlitic steel subjected to a real cold
This
drawing article focuses
process. To on
thisthe analysis
end, of the evolution
wires belonging of inclusions
to different stages of present in eutectoid
the manufacture chainpearlitic steel subjected
were studied, to a real
starting from cold
an initial
drawing
hot rolledprocess.
bar (notTo thisdrawn
cold end, wires
at all).belonging to to
In addition different stages ofobtained
the information the manufacture chain were
through visual studied,
inspection, starting fromanalysis
a quantitative an initial
of
hot
the rolled bar (not generated
micro-defects cold drawnbyatthese
all). In addition has
inclusions to the information
been obtained
carried out. throughhas
The analysis visual inspection,
been performeda quantitative analysis of
using materialographic
the micro-defects generated ®
techniques, scanning electronby these inclusions
microscopy (SEM) has
and been carried
the image out. The
analysis analysis
program has been3.1
(AnaliSYS performed
).. using materialographic
techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the image analysis program (AnaliSYS 3.1®)..
© 2021 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2021an
This The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
This isisan open
open access
access article
article under
under the BY-NC-ND
the CC CC BY-NC-ND licenselicense (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
This
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of license
is an
Peer-review open access
Statement: article under
Peer-review the CC
under BY-NC-ND
responsibility of the
the (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
IGFscientific
ExCo committee of the IGF ExCo
Peer-review Statement: Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the IGF ExCo
Keywords: pearlitic steel; cold drawing; second-phase particles; non-metallic inclusions.
Keywords: pearlitic steel; cold drawing; second-phase particles; non-metallic inclusions.

1. Introduction
1. Introduction
The role of inclusions in the fracture behaviour of steel is now out of doubt. The most recent research deals with
theThe role of
analysis of inclusions in the
the different fracture
types behaviour
of inclusions andoftheir
steelinfluence
is now out
on of
thedoubt. The most
mechanical recent research
properties of steel (deals with
Ånmark et
the analysis of the different types of inclusions and their influence on the mechanical properties
al., 2015; Guo et al., 2018; Qiu et al., 2019). It is worth mentioning the studies focused on improving the of steel ( Ånmark et
al., 2015; Guoof et
deformability al., 2018;
fragile Qiu to
inclusions et ensure
al., 2019).
a good Itmechanical
is worth performance
mentioning the studies
of the steel focused ondrawing
during the improving the
process
deformability of fragile inclusions
(Yan et al., 2014; Yan et al., 2019). to ensure a good mechanical performance of the steel during the drawing process
(Yan et al., 2014; Yan et al., 2019).

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-677566723; fax: +34-980545002.

* Corresponding
E-mail address:author. Tel.: +34-677566723; fax: +34-980545002.
toribio@usal.es
E-mail address: toribio@usal.es
2452-3216 © 2021 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
This is an open
2452-3216 access
© 2021 Thearticle under
Authors. the CC BY-NC-ND
Published by ELSEVIER license
B.V.(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
This is an open
Peer-review access article
Statement: under the
Peer-review CCresponsibility
under BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
of the scientific committee of the IGF ExCo
Peer-review Statement: Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the IGF ExCo

2452-3216 © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the IGF ExCo
10.1016/j.prostr.2021.10.137
1210 Jesús Toribio et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 33 (2021) 1209–1214
2 Jesús Toribio / Procedia Structural Integrity 00 (2021) 000–000

This article studies the presence and evolution of inclusions in pearlitic steel throughout a real process of cold
drawing. Special attention is paid to the generation and evolution of the micro-cracks that occurs around the
inclusions when the steel wire goes through the different dies of drawing; such micro-cracks can have an influence
on the steel’s behavior in fracture. The study of the inclusions has been carried out from the characterization of the
same through the analysis of their chemical composition, as well as a quantitative morphological study.

2. Materials and methods

For the study of the evolution of the inclusions in progressively drawn pearlitic steel, the following wires have
been used: initial hot rolled bar and the wires from the second, fourth, sixth and seventh steps (E0, E2, E4, E6 and
E7 respectively) of the cold drawing process. Fig. 1 shows the true stress vs. true deformation curves (σ−ε) obtained
in these studies for all the wires analyzed in the present work.

2.0

1.6
σ (GPa)

1.2
E7
0.8 E6
E4
0.4 E2
E0
0.0
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
ε
Fig. 1. True stress vs. true deformation (σ−ε) of steels.

Longitudinal cuts were performed in the samples (Fig. 2a). These sections were embedded in a phenolic resin,
thermally hardened by means of a hot compression assembly, as shown in Fig. 2b.

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Preparation of pearlitic steel samples: (a) longitudinal cutting, (b) mounted in resin.

The next step is the mechanical preparation, grinding and polishing of the samples. This step aims to achieve a
specular surface on which a chemical attack can be performed to reveal the microstructure of the steel.
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Jesús Toribio / Porcedia Structural Integrity 00 (2021) 000–000 3

3. Results

Once the chemical analysis of the inclusions has been carried out, it has been decided to classify them according
to the response to deformation during the drawing process, classifying them into hard, soft and mix.
In hard inclusions, oxides can be found mainly; because of their nature these are usually of a high hardness and
fragility; such characteristics prevent them from fully adapting to the surrounding pearlitic matrix during the process
of drawing, creating a small discontinuity in the inclusion-perlite interface (microcavity), cf. Fig. 3.

Fig, 3. Inclusion of hard type, with complex oxide composition, present in the commercial prestressed wire E7.

Soft inclusions are those formed mainly by manganese sulphides capable of withstanding greater plastic strain
than inclusions composed of oxides; however, in many cases they break as a consequence of the cold drawing
process, and it is possible to distinguish the parts in which the embedded inclusion has fragmented, cf. Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Inclusion of soft type, with main composition of manganese sulphide, belonging to the E2 steel (second drawing step).

Mixed nclusions are formed simultaneously by the two main types of constituents discussed above: oxides and
manganese sulphides, cf. Fig. 5, and in them it is possible to differentiate an inner part formed by a complex oxide
and an outer part, that surrounds this first one, composed mainly by manganese sulphides. The mechanical behavior
that these inclusions exhibit, during the cold drawing process, is similar to that of the soft type inclusions, because
the outer part of the mix type inclusions (that in direct contact with the surrounding pearlitic matrix) is the soft one
(oxides on the inside, sulphides on the outside).

Fig. 5. Inclusion of mix type class, with complex oxide composition in the inner central zone and manganese sulphide in the outer zone.
1212 Jesús Toribio et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 33 (2021) 1209–1214
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4. Discussion

The hard inclusions, Fig. 6, are not able to undergo the same plastic deformation as the pearlitic matrix that
surrounds them during the drawing process. The difference in mechanical behavior between the pearlitic matrix and
the inclusion will cause a decohesion of the pearlitic matrix, generating a microflaw, also called microdamage.

Fig. 6. Evolution of hard inclusions during the drawing process belonging to the steels E2, E4 and E7.

The soft inclusions, Fig. 7, are able to deform plastically in a similar way as the pearlitic matrix that surrounds
them during cold drawing; these evolve along all the stretching dies, deforming a lot according to the longitudinal
axis of the steel wire (drawing direction). This type of inclusions, once deformed, tend to fragment generating
cavities that will simultaneously be filled by the compression of the surrounding pearlitic matrix when passing
through successive drawing dies. Manganese sulphide is one of the most representative compounds of this type of
inclusions. Most inclusions will generate microdefects of greater entity the larger the size of that inclusion. The
micro-flaws generated by the soft type inclusions are surrounded by a pearlitic matrix with a large microdamage,
that microdamage being of a smaller size than the one generated by other inclusions.

Fig. 7. Evolution of soft inclusions during the drawing process belonging to the steels E2, E4 and E6.

Mixture-type inclusions are made up of two typologies of inclusions, one softer and one harder. Both typologies,
within the same inclusion, are clearly different by tonality and shape; the hard type inclusion being darker and with a
rounded morphology. In Fig. 8 it is shown how the hardest inclusion appears in the central area of the mixture type
inclusion, while its periphery is formed by a softer inclusion (of lighter tonality). The microcavity generated from
this type of inclusion has a slenderness similar to that generated by soft type inclusion. The width of this
microdamage is greater than that created by soft type inclusion, since the inclusion of hard type existing in the core
of the mixture type inclusions is barely deformed transversely throughout the drawing process.
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Jesús Toribio / Porcedia Structural Integrity 00 (2021) 000–000 5

The soft outer part of the mixture-type inclusion is deformed during the first steps of the drawing process in the
direction of the conformation process itself (longitudinal axis of the wire). As this process grows, the soft part of the
inclusion can become fragmented forming empty spaces between the different fragments created during drawing.
Once the soft part of the mix inclusion is fragmented, due to the constraint of the colonies during drawing, this
area can get filled with the surrounding pearlitic matrix thanks to the constricting action that occurs during drawing.
This filling can leave the fragments of the inclusion isolated; this is shown in the micrographs as independent
inclusions, but within the same microcavity. As a final result of the process, mix-type inclusions generate
discontinuities within the pearlitic matrix since the padding is not strictly complete at the edges of the fragments.

Fig. 8. Evolution of the inclusions of the mixture type during the drawing process belonging to steels E2, E4 and E6.

5. Conclusions

The classification of the inclusions in progressively cold drawn eutectoid pearlitic steel has been carried out in
this study, based on their behavior against the surrounding pearlitic matrix during the drawing process. This
classification consists of the following: soft-type inclusions (mainly MnS type), hard-type inclusions (Fe complex
oxides) and mix-type inclusions (Mn sulphides and iron oxides) in which a hard-type inclusion is usually surrounded
by a soft-type inclusion.
The existing inclusions in the steel, as it passes through the various wire drawing dies, generate a series of micro-
flaws elongated in the longitudinal direction of the steel wire. These micro-flaws or micro-damage show an increase
in their slenderness (parallel to the direction of the plastic conformation process, or longitudinal axis of the wire) as
a consequence of the drawing process itself, such increase being more pronounced in the case of soft type
inclusions. In the direction transverse to the steel wire, the material becomes compacted by diametral compression
of the wire when it passes through the different cold drawing dies.
The volume of the micro-damage generated around an inclusion during cold drawing is a function,
fundamentally, of the size of the inclusion from which it originates, of the chemical composition of the inclusion and
of the number of dies of drawing which has exceeded the corresponding inclusion (and its wire).
The presence of inclusions within the microstructure of pearlitic steel, as well as the microdamage that occur
around them as an exclusive consequence of the drawing process, can be key to understanding the mechanical
response of the material and also its fracture behavior.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to kindly acknowledge the financial support provided by the following Spanish Institutions:
Ministry for Science and Technology (MICYT; Grant MAT2002-01831), Ministry for Education and Science
(MEC; Grant BIA2005-08965), Ministry for Science and Innovation (MICINN; Grant BIA2008-06810), Ministry
for Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO; Grant BIA2011-27870) and Junta de Castilla y León (JCyL; Grants
SA067A05, SA111A07 and SA039A08).
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