Materials Science Forum Vols 539-543 (2007) pp 4238-4242 Online: 2007-03-15

© (2007) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.539-543.4238

Development of Low Carbon Boron Steel for Wire Drawing

C. Camurri1, a, C. Carrasco1,b, I. Bello1,c and M. Trucco2,d

1
Department of Materials Engineering – Universidad de Concepción
Casilla 53-C, Concepción, Chile.
2
Compañía Siderúrgica Huachipato, Casilla 12-D, Talcahuano, Chile.
a b c d
ccamurri@udec.cl, ccarrascoc@udec.cl, ibello@udec.cl, mtrucco@csh.cl

Keywords: Boron steel, wire, cold drawing

Abstract. From the mechanical point of view, the successful cold drawing of wire-rods of low carbon
steel requires a high ductility and a ratio between the yield stress and tensile strength as lowest as
possible, both for diminish the fractures during the process. Small boron additions in the cast of this
kind of steel produce an increase in the size of austenitic grain, and consequently the ferritic one, and
a diminution of the deformation hardening due to the reduction in the nitrogen content in the solid
solution. In this way, the goal of this work is to study the effect of small boron additions (67 to 117
ppm) in the mechanical properties of 5.5 mm diameter wire-rods of low carbon steel.
The wire-rods were characterized by means of traction tests, metallographic analysis with optic and
electronic microscopy, and the results were compared with the corresponding one for wire-rod of
standard steel, i.e., without boron contents.
The metallographic analysis confirms the increase in size of ferritic grain. The measured ductility
present only slight increases in boron steel, no significant from the quality point of view, however, the
ratio between yield stress and tensile strength in boron steels shown a clear improvement respect to
the standard. Traction tests in samples obtained at the exit of each one of the matrixes used during the
cold drawing process shows an improve in the behavior of low carbon steel with boron contents.

Introduction
The suitable cold drawing of wire-rods of low carbon steel requires an adequate ductility of the
material as well as a low ratio between the yield stress and tensile strength , for avoid fractures during
the process. In this way, in the last decade has been developing low carbon steels, without aluminum,
or without considerable amounts of titanium or other elements capable to form carbides, and with
small boron additions – 150 ppm maximum [1-2]. When that small quantities of boron are present, the
steel decrease its deformation hardening and increase the ductility, basically by means of two
mechanisms: The first one correspond to the precipitation of Fe23(B,C)6 in the grain boundaries of the
austenite. As a consequence of this factor, the phase transformation of austenite to ferrite occurs at
higher temperature, forming in this form ferrite grains of higher size [1]. The second mechanism is the
precipitation of boron nitrides (BN), decreasing the nitrogen content in solid solution and obviously,
attenuating the hardening effect due to the presence of interstitial elements, and consequently,
decreasing the yield stress and increasing the ductility of these materials.
In this way, the goal of this work is to study the effect of the addition of small amounts of boron – 67
to 118 ppm – in the mechanical properties of 5.5 mm diameter wire-rods of low carbon steel, used
actually for cold drawing. The patron steel use like reference is the standard one, i.e., the same steel
without boron. The wire-rods were mechanically characterized by means of traction test, determining
the yield stress, σ0, the tensile strength , σR, the hardening coefficient, n, the area reduction, Z, and the
elongation to the fracture, A. The structure of the wire-rods and the fracture surfaces were analyzed
with optic and electronic microscopy. Additionally, traction test were made to wire-rods in each step
during the cold drawing process , i.e., at the end of each used matrix.

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 Materials Science Forum Vols. 539-543 4239

Experimental details
200 ton of new boron steel, in four different heats, were prepared in the “Compañía Siderúrgica
Huachipato (CSH)”, Chile. The chemical composition of the analyzed steel as well as the standard
steel was determined with an optical emission spectroscopy ARL 298. For a more exact determination
of light elements as oxygen and nitrogen, both, CS-400 and TC-300 Leco equipments were used.
For the mechanical characterization (traction test) a 5 Ton Lloyd machine was used, with digital
extensometer, both connected with NEXYGEN software for acquisition and treatment of data. The
gage length Lo was 50 mm. The tests were made in duplicate at strain rate of 10-3 seg-1. The
hardening coefficient, n, was calculated as the slope of the graphic logσ v/s logε, with σ and ε the
effective stress and stain respectively.
For the metallographic study, i.e., morphology, phases and grain size, common optical microscopy
was used, with a maximum amplification of 1000 X. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy with
energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) was used for analyze the fracture surface and detect the
presence of boron nitride (BN).

Results and discussions

Table 1 shows the chemical composition of each one of the four heats of studied boron steel, as well
as the composition of four standard steel used for comparison. From this table is possible to see that
the average boron content vary from 2 ppm in the standard steel to 92 ppm in the steels with boron
addition.

Table 1: Chemical composition of the studied steels.

Steel Heat %C %Mn %P %S %Si %Al %B %N

Standard 1 0.054 0.313 0.009 0.012 0.042 0.0003 0.0003 0.0050
(without 2 0.052 0.314 0.010 0.013 0.040 0.0003 0.0003 0.0037
boron) 3 0.048 0.310 0.006 0.009 0.043 0.0004 0.0002 0.0065
4 0-.043 0.320 0.009 0.012 0.042 0.0001 0.0002 0.0032
Average 0.049 0.314 0.009 0.012 0.042 0.0003 0.0002 0.0046
Whit B 1 0.047 0.268 0.008 0.007 0.034 0.0008 0.0067 0.0035
2 0.048 0.270 0.006 0.009 0.019 0.0010 0.0085 0.0039
3 0.053 0.290 0.008 0.006 0.025 0.0002 0.0102 0.0037
4 0.043 0.263 0.010 0.007 0.014 0.0000 0.0117 0.0040
Average 0.048 0.273 0.008 0.007 0.023 0.0005 0.0092 0.0038

Table 2: Results of traction tests in wire-rods

Steel Heat σ0 [MPa] σR [MPa] σ0/σR Z [%] A [%] n

Standard 1 307 388 0.79 80.5 33.9 0.24
(without 2 285 403 0.71 80.5 32.4 0.23
boron) 3 258 377 0.68 80.0 29.0 0.25
4 267 382 0.70 80.3 30.6 0.27
Average 279 388 0.72 80.3 31.5 0.25
Whit B 1 244 384 0.64 82.9 34.5 0.22
2 202 344 0.59 82.5 31.9 0.26
3 216 349 0.62 82.6 31.3 0.25
4 212 343 0.62 83.4 31.6 0.26
Average 218 355 0.61 82.9 32.3 0.24
4240 THERMEC 2006

Table 2 shows the results from the traction tests for the studied steels. From this data is clear a
diminution in the yield stress, from an average value of 279 MPa in standard steel without boron, to an
average of 218 MPa in boron steel. In this form, the coefficient between the yield stress and traction
resistance decrease, from 0.72 in standard steels to an average value of 0.61 in boron steels. From the
point of view of the fracture prevents, this result is a preliminary index for the better behavior of the
steel during the cold drawing. In the other hand, the ductility, measured from area reduction, Z, the
elongation too the fracture, A, and the hardening coefficient, n, shows not significant statistical
differences between the standard and boron steel wire-rods.

Fig. 1 and 2 shows optical metallographies in wire-rods with and without boron respectively.

Figure 1: Micrography of standard steel (without boron).

Figure 2: Micrography of boron steel.

In steels with boron, a significant grow of ferritic grain is observed - ASTM size 7-8 - while for
standard steel the average ASTM size was 9 [3]. With these grain sizes it is possible to determine the
average diameter of the grains [4], giving medium values of 0.027 and 0.016 mm for steels with and
without boron respectively. As one of the initial postulates of this work is that the diminution of the
yield stress in the steels with boron is due to its mayor ferritic grain size, the Hall-Petch equation must
be applied here with a very good correlation [5, 6]: σo = σI + k d-1/2, with σi the friction stress which is
opposed to the movement of the dislocations, k is a measurement of the extension of the pilling up of
the dislocations in front of the barriers, and d the grains or sub-grains size in ferrite. If σi and k are
 Materials Science Forum Vols. 539-543 4241

assumed constant, the average difference of the yields stress between the steel with and without boron
(61 MPa = 6.1 Kgf/mm2) must be completely determined by the factor k·d-1/2. Replacing the values for
the medium diameters for the corresponding groups of studied steel, the value of k results be 5
Kgf/mm3/2, and with this, the obtained values of σi are negatives, i.e., without physical signification.
This fact suggest that the constant of the Hall-Petch equation are different for standard steel and boron
steel, and also that the differences between the respective yield stresses not only is due to the boron
content, but also depends of the other small differences in composition in other elements, such as Mn
and Si, as has been proposed previously [1-2].
The samples were also analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy, which has an
incorporated EDS, for detect the presence of boron nitride. However, the images obtained and the
EDS analyses were not enough for conclude the real occurrence of these nitrides. In the other hand,
the fact that the nitrogen content in the samples of steel with boron be lower than the samples without
boron (see table I), can be due that part of the nitrogen should be as boron nitrides an it is not easily
detected during the chemical analysis.
Fig. 3 shows a typical fracture surface corresponding to boron steel. In this illustration is possible to
see the classical ductile fracture corresponding to low carbon steels.

Figure 3: Fracture surface of boron steel.

Table 3 give the results of traction test made to the wires with and without boron, obtained at the end
of the each one of the eleven matrixes of the cold drawing process. From this table it is possible to see
the strong deformation hardening and the ductility decrease of the steels conform they are cold
drawing. If the ratio between yield stress and tensile strength for both kind of steels is compared, it is
possible to observe that for standard steels, the value 1 is reached for accumulated reductions of
80.2 %, while for boron steels this value is obtained for total reductions over 91.5 %. Additionally, the
ductility of boron steels, represented by means of the reduction of area Z, is notably higher than the
standard steels from sixth matrix (i.e., reductions over 80 %) place where the facture is most probably
that occurred, due to the small diameter of the wire.

The exposed results shows a better industrial behavior of boron steel respect to the standard steel
without boron, because they maintain its plastic performance at higher reductions, diminish in this
form the fracture possibility among matrixes by over-tensions, tangles, and other inherent causes
typical of the cold wire process.
4242 THERMEC 2006

Table 3: Traction test results.

Steel Matrix Wire diameter Accumulated σ0 [MPa] σR [MPa] Z [%] σ0/σR

at exit [mm] reduction [%]
Standard 1 5.05 10.7 432 494 76.3 0.88
(without 2 4.33 34.4 554 599 73.8 0.92
boron) 3 3.71 51.8 596 634 66.6 0.94
4 3.20 64.1 670 700 57.3 0.96
5 2.74 73.7 761 799 52.9 0.95
6 2.38 80.2 818 818 49.8 1
7 2.10 84.6 864 864 44.8 1
8 1.81 88.5 892 892 39.3 1
9 1.56 91.5 932 932 30.8 1
10 1.41 93.0 982 982 21.0 1
11 1.25 94.5 103 103 13.1 1
With B 1 5.02 11.8 439 492 79.5 0.88
2 4.33 34.4 516 573 73.0 0.90
3 3.70 52.1 560 613 69.4 0.92
4 3.17 64.8 640 667 60.1 0.91
5 2.73 73.9 685 718 58.9 0.96
6 2.39 80.0 691 720 57.9 0.95
7 2.07 85.0 718 740 55.4 0.96
8 1.80 88.7 819 819 52.2 0.97
9 1.56 91.5 849 849 41.1 1
10 1.41 93.0 892 892 41.0 1
11 1.24 94.6 928 928 29.1 1

Conclusions
The addition of small amounts of boron, less than 150 ppm, to steel wires of low carbon produces an
improvement in the desirable properties for later successful cold drawing: the yield stress and ratio
between the yield stress and tensile strength decrease as a result of ferritic grain growth from average
diameters of 0,016 mm (without boron), to 0.027 mm (with boron). That better aptitude are still more
reflected in the indicated properties during the cold drawing of wire, particularly for total area
reductions over 80 %.

References
[1] M. Baarman: Wire Industry, (1998), p.74
[2] M. Baarman, M. Hakan: Scandinavian Journal of Metallurgy, Vol 27 (1998), pp.148-158
[3] I. Bello: Desarrollo de aceros de bajo carbono al boro para trefilación de alambres (Facultad de
Ingeniería, Universidad de Concepción 2005).
[4] J. Verhoeven: Fundamentos de la Metalurgia Física (Iowa State University 1987)
[5] E. Hall: Proc. Phys. Soc. (1951), p.747.
[6] N. Petch: Journal of Iron and Steel Institute, (1953), p.25.
THERMEC 2006
10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.539-543

Development of Low Carbon Boron Steel for Wire Drawing

10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.539-543.4238