Table I.

Chemical Compositions of Steels (Weight Percent)

Communications Steel C Si Mn P S Al N Ti
A 0.0009 0.25 1.23 0.086 0.0086 0.036 0.0015 0.044
Strength and Formability of Ultra- B 0.0035 0.24 1.25 0.092 0.0073 0.027 0.0014 0.046

Low-Carbon Ti-IF Steels

WOO CHANG JEONG
Ultra-low-carbon interstitial free (IF) steel sheets bearing
Ti and/or Nb have been extensively used for automotive
panels because of superior formability and nonaging proper-
ties. It is well known that the interstitial elements such as
C and N play important roles in the formability. The lower
the contents of the C and N in steel, the better the formability
of the steel. The demands for the steel with excellent form-
ability from automotive industry will accelerate the progress
in the steelmaking process, leading to the development of
the ultra-low-carbon steel. With the advent and installation of
improved vacuum degassing equipment in the steelmaking
process, it is now possible to consistently produce ultra-low-
carbon content of 0.002 to 0.005 wt pct. It is expected that
in the near future, the C and N contents can be lowered to
as low as 0.001 pct or less. This study is focused on strength
and formability in the extremely ultra-low-carbon IF steels
containing about 0.001 pct carbon.
Chemical compositions of the steels used in this study
are shown in Table I. The steels are high strength Ti-IF
steels with about 400 MPa tensile strength. There is only
a difference in carbon content between two steels; 0.25
pct Si, 1.25 pct Mn, and 0.09 pct P are added for the
strengthening.
The ingots were hot-forged and hot-rolled to 4.0-mm-
thick hot bands. The hot-rolled sheets were cold-reduced 75
pct to the nominal thickness of 1.0 mm. Tensile specimens
with a 50-mm gage length and a 12.5-mm width were
machined. The cold-rolled sheets were heated to 800 8C to
890 8C at a rate of 8 8C/s, held at the temperature for 30
seconds, slowly cooled down to 680 8C at 5 8C/s, and then
rapidly cooled to room temperature at a rate of 40 8C/s.
Tensile tests were conducted for as-annealed steels at a cross-
head moving speed of 10 mm/min. The plastic strain ratio (r
value) was determined by measuring the width and thickness Fig. 1—Effects of carbon and annealing temperature on the tensile strength,
change after 15 pct tensile strain. r value, and yield point elongation of the annealed steel sheets.
Tensile strength, r value, and yield point elongation
(YPEl) of steels A and B are plotted as a function of anneal-
ing temperature in Figure 1. Lowering carbon content from
0.0035 to 0.0009 pct resulted in a decrease in tensile strength has not been any research on the softening due to the carbon
and an increase in r value. The change in tensile strength in the extremely ultra-low-carbon IF steels including about
with carbon content was constant regardless of the annealing 0.001 pct carbon. Pradhan[1] studied the effect of carbon on
temperature. The softening effect of the carbon was, on the tensile properties in the Ti-IF steels, which contain car-
average, 12.6 MPa per 0.001 pct. The result seems to be bon ranging from 0.002 to 0.0045 pct, and showed that
surprising. As far as the ultra-low-carbon IF steels are con-
carbon content had little effect on the mechanical properties
cerned, most research has been on the formability improve-
including yield and tensile strengths, elongation, and r value.
ment. The IF steels are strengthened by substitutional
But extremely low carbon steels with carbon content less
alloying elements such as P, Si, and Mn. Consequently, there
than 0.002 pct were not considered in the study. On the
other hand, Kato et al.[2] reported that in the Ti-IF steels, P,
Si, and Mn have the strengthening effects of 0.88, 0.10,
and 0.05 MPa per 0.001 pct, respectively. However, the
WOO CHANG JEONG, Assistant Professor, is with the School of Auto-
motive Engineering, College of Engineering, Catholic University of Taegu-
strengthening or softening effect of carbon was not investi-
Hyosung, Kyongbuk 712-702, Korea. gated. The strengthening effect of carbon in the present study
Manuscript submitted July 13, 1999. is about 14 times as high as that of phosphorus, which is

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A VOLUME 31A, APRIL 2000—1305

Fig. 2—Optical micrographs showing the variation in ferrite grain structure with annealing temperature and carbon content in the annealed steel she ets:
(a) steel A, 830 8C;(b) steel B, 830 8C; (c) steel A, 860 8C; (d ) steel B, 860 8C; (e) steel A, 890 8C; and ( f ) steel B, 890 8C.

the most potent solid solution hardening element. From the
preceding results, it is suggested that in the steel chemistry
design of extremely ultra-low-carbon steels of about 0.001
pct, more strengthening elements such as P, Si, and Mn
should be added to compensate for the softening effect of
carbon.
What mechanisms are involved in the softening due to
carbon? Carbon can contribute to the strengthening by solid
solution hardening, precipitation hardening, and grain size
refining. According to the well-known equation,[3] Ti* 5
total Ti-(48/14)N-(48/32)S, where Ti* is effective Ti con-
tent to scavenge solute carbon, the atomic ratios of Ti*/C
for steels A and B are calculated as 7. 21 and 2.16, respec-
tively. If the atomic ratio of Ti*/C is larger than 1, the as-
annealed steel should theoretically reveal no YPEl. How-
ever, two as-annealed steels in this study showed 3 to 4
pct YPEl at all annealing temperatures. It is also important
to note that the difference in YPEl between two steels is
less than 1 pct. The similar results were also reported in
Ti-IF steels containing P above 0.05 pct.[3,4] This could be
because the extensive precipitation of titanium in (Fe, Ti)
P resulted in the decrease in Ti* content for scavenging
solute carbon, leaving some solute carbon in steel.[3] Jeong
and Han[4] showed that YPEl below 4 pct was caused by the

1306—VOLUME 31A, APRIL 2000 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

presence of the solute carbon less than 1 ppm. Therefore, it
could be concluded that the contribution of the solid solu-
tion hardening due to carbon in this study is very small.
The steels are expected to have no problems related to
strain aging at room temperature. That is why these steels
are called IF steels even though the as-annealed steels
revealed 3 to 4 pct YPEl in the tensile test. Second, the
precipitation hardening by the carbides or carbonitrides
seemed to be negligible because of the extremely small
amount of precipitates. Finally, the softening effect of
decreasing carbon content could be found in the coarsening
of ferrite grain. Figure 2 shows optical micrographs of
annealed steel sheets. With decreasing the carbon content
and increasing the annealing temperature, the ferrite grain
coarsened, consequently decreasing the strength.
On the other hand, r value was markedly improved by
decreasing the carbon content from 0.0035 to 0.0009 pct,
as shown in Figure 1. The difference in r value between
two steels is 0.2 to 0.3 at all annealing temperatures. Steel
A containing 0.0009 pct carbon showed a high r value of
about 1.6 when annealed at 800 8C to 860 8C, corresponding
to deep drawing quality (DDQ). The r value increased to
1.85 of extra deep drawing quality (EDDQ) grade with
increasing annealing temperature to 890 8C. It is a very
surprising result because the steel is high strength steel
with tensile strengths of 400 MPa or higher. This result
indicates that when the carbon content decreases below
0.001 pct, superior formability of EDDQ grade can be
obtained in high strength steel with tensile strength of 400
MPa or higher. The variation in r value with carbon content
is well matched to the variation in the ferrite grain size.
The bigger the ferrite grain size of annealed steel, the higher
the r value. The highest r values in steels A and B were
obtained in the specimens annealed at 890 8C when the
coarsening of the ferrite grain was remarkable. In order to
find out the reason for the effect of carbon on the r value,
(200) pole figures for the annealed sheets were measured.
The comparison of (200) pole figures of steels A and B
showed that with the decrease in the carbon content,
{554}^225& near the ND//^111& texture became stronger
and {100}^001& weakened, which were responsible for the
improvement of r value.
In summary, lowering the carbon content from 0.0035 to
0.0009 pct in Ti-IF steels resulted in the substantial softening
and improvement in r value. The softening effect of the
carbon was about 12.6 MPa per 0.001 wt pct and was related
to the coarsening of ferrite grain. The improvement in r
values in lower carbon steel also resulted from the ferrite
grain coarsening.
REFERENCES
1. R. Pradhan: Int. Forum for Physical Metallurgy of IF Steels, The Iron
and Steel Institute of Japan, Tokyo, 1994, pp. 165-78.
2. H. Katoh, H. Takechi, N. Takahashi, and M. Abe: Int. Symp. for
Technology of Continuously Annealed Cold-Rolled Sheet Steels, TMS-
AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1985, pp. 37-58.
´
3. W.C. Jeong and J.H. Chung: Tetsu-to-Hagane, 1989, vol. 75, pp.
2210-17.
4. W.C. Jeong and S.H. Han: J. Kor. Inst. Met. Mater., 1993, vol. 31,
pp. 1181-90.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A
Infrared Temperature Mapping of
ULTIMET Alloy during High-Cycle
Fatigue Tests
HSIN WANG, LIANG JIANG, P.K. LIAW,
C.R. BROOKS, and D.L. KLARSTROM
Fatigue analysis is an important aspect of understanding
mechanical properties of metals and alloys.[1–3] Traditional
fatigue studies involve the generation of applied stress vs
fatigue life cycle (S-N) behavior diagrams and microscopic
investigations of fracture mechanisms.[4,5] In recent years,
acoustic emission[6] and optical imaging[7] have also been
used as monitoring techniques during fatigue tests. One
parameter that has not been utilized widely during fatigue
testing is temperature. It is well known that the temperature
of a specimen during cyclic fatigue testing increases as a
result of internal friction.[8] The temperature changes of a
specimen are usually obtained using a thermocouple, but
such measurements only provide temperature readings at a
specific location. On the other hand, a detailed temperature
distribution map of the specimen obtained during fatigue
tests could be used as a new dynamic method of monitoring
crack initiation and propagation behavior. Temperature
changes during fatigue tests are expected to be local and in
the form of thermal transients. Capturing thermal signatures
associated with fatigue cracks requires a high-speed, high-
sensitivity infrared imaging system. Relevant studies using
a scanning infrared camera (IR) with temperature resolution
of 0.1 K at 293 K can be found in the literature.[9,10] In the
present study, a state-of-the-art IR camera was employed to
monitor temperature changes of ULTIMET* alloy during
*ULTIMET is a trademark of Haynes International, Inc., Kokomo, IN.
high-cycle fatigue tests. Using the snap-shot and the
sequence modes of the IR camera, temperature distribution
maps of the specimen as a function of time (cycles) have
been obtained. This work reports temperature changes during
high-cycle fatigue tests and infrared imaging of fatigue
cracks as a heat source before the final failure.
The wrought cobalt-based ULTIMET alloy (Co-26Cr-
9Ni-5Mo-2Fe-2W, wt pct) specimens were provided by
Haynes International, Inc. High-cycle fatigue tests, at 10
and 20 Hz, were performed using a Material Test System
electrohydraulic testing machine. The maximum stress dur-
ing the tests was 700 MPa with an R ratio of 0.05 (smin/
smax 5 0.05, where smin is the minimum applied stress and
smax is the maximum applied stress). Button-head specimens
having a 1.950-cm gage length and a 0.508-cm diameter in
the test section were prepared by Metcut Research Associ-
ates, Inc. (Cincinatti, OH) and electropolished before testing.
HSIN WANG, Research Scientist, is with Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6064. LIANG JIANG, Ph.D. Student, and P.K.
LIAW and C.R. BROOKS, Professors, are with the Department of Materials
Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville,
TN 37996. D.L. KLARSTROM, Director of Technology, is with Haynes
International, Inc., Kokomo, IN 46904.
Manuscript submitted July 26, 1999.
VOLUME 31A, APRIL 2000—1307