ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9, pp.

833-855
Review
The Influence of Composition on the Hot DuctilitY of Steels and
to the Problem of Transverse Cracking

Barrie MINTZ
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, City University, Northampton Square, London, UK.
E-mail: B.Mintz(a;),city,ac.uk

(Received on March 29. 1999; accepted in final form on June /. 1999)

A review of the literature has been made, concentrating on the influence of N, V, Ti and the residuals,
Cu, Sn, Sand P, on the hot ductility of steels.
Nitrogen is generally detrimental to ductility in Al containing and microal[oyed steels; to avoid transverse
cracking the N Ievels should be kept as low as possible. WhenTi additions are madeto low N, C-Mn-Al
steels, (0.005•/o N) the best ductility is likely to be given by a high Ti : Nratio of 4-5: I For high Nsteels
.

(0.01 •/* N), a low Ti level (0.01 •/o) is recommended to reduce the volume fraction of Ti containing particles.
but allow precipitation to occur at high temperatures. In addition a low soluble Al level is neededto prevent
the excess Nfrom combining to form AIN. For C-Mn-Nb-AI steels, similar recommendationscan be made
with regard to adding Ti. However, the presence of Nb and Al appears to have little influence on the
ductility, since these elements coarsen the Ti containing precipitates. Furthermore, once the Ti has combined
with the Nany remaining Nnowseemsbeneficial, possibly because high Ncontents encourage precipitation
at higher temperatures,
V as a microalloying addition gives better hot ductility than Nb and the product of the V and N has to
approach I .2 x I 0-3, e.g. 0.1 o/• V and 0,01 2•/• N before ductility deteriorates to that normally shownwith
a 0.03•/• Nb addition.
SIevels should be kept low to reduce the detrimental precipitation of fine sulphides at the v boundaries.
Care must be taken with Catreatment as if the steel is too "clean", none of the Nbmaybe able to precipitate
out prior to straightening.
Residual levels af Cu> 0.1 5"/o and Sn are detrimental to surface quality and encourage transverse cracking.
It is fou
nd that Cuis deleterious to ductility, but Ni can be addedto compensatefor this loss. It is recommended
that the amount of Ni added should be greater than the residual Cu level to be su!e of avoiding problems,
(Ni : Cu ratio nearer to I .5 to 2).
Phosphorus although potentially beneficial to ductility can not be recommendedunless its segregation
during solidification can be reduced.
KEYWORDS:steel; continuous casting; hot ductility; transverse cracking; compositional control;
S, Cu and Sn; microalloying additions; Nb; V;
residuals-P. Ti; Al; Nitrogen.

Introduction Relevanceof Hot Tensile Test to the Problemof Transverse

Cracking
Although there are manyinstances of transverse
still

cracking occurring incontinuously cast steel, the problem Before starting the review, it is important to discuss
for conventlonal continuous casting has to a large degree the relevance of the hot ductility tensile test to the

been reduced through the extensive research programmes of

problem transverse cracking. The simple test has been
which have been devoted to the subject in the last 20 found very useful in assessing a steels susceptibility to
years.1~4) Nevertheless, it is still
commonwith Nb cracking, but great care has to be taken in interpreting
containing steels to roll wide and trirn off the edges of the results so that they can be used to improve commercial
the strand to removeedge cracks adding considerably to practice 5) .

the scrap losses.1) Furthermore, with the advent of thin test, conditions are chosen to sirnulate, as closely
In the
slab casting, where surface inspection prior to rolling is as possible, the conditions pertaining to the straightening
not possible, surface quality has become even more operation during continuous casting. Thus, the sample
the microalloying
important and therefore there has been a contlnued need heated to
- 1350'C to dissolve
is all

for research work in this area. and grain additions

refining and to produce a coarse
grain size reminiscent of the as-cast grain size. The strain
rate is chosen to be the same as that used durlng the
straightening operation, l0~3 to l0~4 s~ i. The cooling

833 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International. Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9

60

50

~:~.'
'S 40 e
e
~lc"
o
vl' 30
c5
O
1' glJ'
a,
ul 20 e- ~

,p
~i
J5u'

10 e
5
o
O ool 0.02 O03 O04 O05 0.06
IO1 l l I lO.07
O o02 0.03 O04 0.05 O06
(20) (62) (87) (92) (80) (36) (28)
o >0.005 >0.010 >0.030 >0.035
I l I Soluble Al RangesExamined, '/.
0.0 1O 0.030 0.035 o.040
(>1 oo) (8) (1 9) (54) (64)
1OO
Niobium RangesExamined, '/. .
gO I
e ~

no Al 1,

80 \.
ll
\ X
.1 x ,
70 O023%sol Al
/
/
60
\ ~* IF

a "/
/
; f
/
RofA •\ I '
% 50 ,If L ~

. /(.

40
!f
~ \
5:
30 ,r* f
.
(
20
/
/
10
~
,,

O
700 750 800 850 goo 950 Iooo
T'~pe'at~,., 'c

Fig. 1(b). Top curve: Percentage distressed casts as a function

of soluble A1 content: numbersin brackets refer to
total numberof casts in each compositional interval.
700 750 800 e50 900 95o Bottom curve: Infiuence of soluble Al on the hot
T'mp""tu*, ~; ductility of Nb containing steels, (0.03 '/, Nb)
(after Ref. 6)).
Fig. 1(a). Top curve: Percentage distressed casts as a function
of Nb content: numbers in brackets refer to total
numberof casts in each compositional interval. respectively.6,9) However, using this simple method of
Bottom curve: Infiuence of Nbon the hot ductility testing examine the influence of Swould lead to the
to
of steels (after Ref. 6)).
false conclusion that the SIevel has no effect on transverse
cracking, Fig. 2(a).10)
rate to the test temperature is also chosen to correspond The simple test has indeed a number of drawbacks,
to the average cooling rate, close to the surface of the someof which can be removed by more sophisticated
strand, over the temperature range 350 to 900'C, 1 testing. Thus, casting the tensile samples in situ and
(-60Kmin~1) for conventional continuous casting cooling directly to the test temperature, allows to S
slab6) and -200Kmin~1for thin slab casting,
250mm segregate to the interdendritic boundaries and precipitate
50 thick slab.7) out morenormally, so that its true adverse influence can
mm
The reduction ofarea values (R of A) are taken as a be determined, Fig. 2(b).5)
measureof the and the value required to prevent
ductility Generally, for the micro-alloying additions Nband V
transverse cracking occurring, is dependent on the exact and A1,5) ,,solution treatment" (i.e. heating the steel to
test conditions. Under the conditions used by the author,
- 1350'C), prior to testing, has been found adequate to
solution treating at
- 1350'C and testing 400/0
at a strain rate assess a steel's likelihood to exhibit transverse cracking.
of 3x l0~3s~1, an of value of R A
would be However, for Ti and S, the tensiles must be tested directly
required to ensure freedom from cracking.8) after casting to ensure resolution of the TiN particles
At best, this simple test gives a semi-quantitative and MnSinclusions.5,lo - 12) Whenthese precautions are
assessmentof a steels likelihood to give rise to transverse taken, precipitate size and distribution in the tensile
cracking. At worst, it can lead to quite erroneous samples follows closely that found near the surface of
predictions. Thus, it readily shows the deleterious effect the continuously cast slabs.6)
of Nb Nband Al in combination, on hot ductility,
and Even casting tensile samples is not ideal, as small
which is in accord with these elements' knownability to castings neither produce the segregation patterns exper-
give rise to severe transverse cracking, Figs. l(a) and 1(b) ienced near the surface of conventionally cast strand,

C 1999 ISIJ 834

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999). No. 9

IOO 120

~;[;::;: reterence cycle

(a) AO ~~o
100
' *~ - , ~1 ~--•e
80 o 1
,
\jco i
e)
80
~ I
!

e~~
60
[]
L
H-o 60
1

i
i
f
l
\
cycling
c:
o 40 :l i
A oA :,=
e~ o
= I
40 1:,
q) 20
a: (a) i~"1"I
J'

oc] a
o600
20 TOO 800 900 1,000 1oo
1,10C

A Temerature 'C
Test Temperature

o
700 800 900 10eo 90
I cP 1 I e
Temperature, 'C
IOO 80 e cP 2
l
L cP j
C o.003%s ~~70
90 C] o,oO5%s
~5 eo
,c

BO
A
'~
u.007%s
o.olG% s
G,
S~
S~
dp
~ 9 so (b)
e,l
* o,oro% s
~5'
~Pl
,:' so
a:
~
s~
, e
30
70
o
)~:,,p
O 20 A 1 \
P2
60 .\'~ \c
'~e

F~
850 goo 950 looo l050
Test Temperature 'C
*
so
~ Hatched line : Regions in which dynamic re-
crystallization takes place for cooling
40
patterns (CP), 1, 2 and 3.
, ~
Hot ductllity curves for the various cooling patterns
30 ex'amined.
(b)
Fig. 3. Innuence of temperature oscillations on the hot duc-
20 tility of (a) C-M11-AI steel, (0.0260/. Al, 0.0040/0 N),
750 800 850 goo 950 100Q ro50 Ref. 15). Cycling consisted of one temperature
'rest Tempcrature 'C oscillation of amplitude 100'C. ~
Fig. 2(a). The effect of sulpher content on the hot ductility of
(b)
CMnNb-AI steel, CPI refcrs to normal cooling

to the test temperature at 60'Cmin~ l, CP2and CP3

reheated CMn-Nb-AIsteels, Ref, lO),
incorporated a numberof temper'ature oscillations of
(b) The influence of S on hot ductility of as-cast
amplltude i50 and d: 100*C respectively. Ref, 16).
C-Mn-Nb-AIsteels. Ref. 5),

the Nb containing steel.

nor the columnar grain structure that often present
and may be directly responsible for the ease of crack
propagation during straightening.1) A newtest develop-
ed recently on notched as-cast tensiles does however, go
somewayto producing the columnar grain structure. 1
3' 14)
Furthermore, the cooling pattern after solidificatlon
very different commercially to what generally carried
is
out in the laboratory test.
In the commercial operation, cooling just below the
surface of the strand is very rapid at first, reaches a
minimumtemperature and then rises again. The sub-
is Whereastemperature cycling has a significant influence
on C-Mn-AI steels, widening and deepening the trough,
this
maynot be so for Ti treated CMn-AIsteels where
the Ti is able to remove the N as TiN and thus prevent
any further precipitation from occurring during cycling,
is
as can be seen in Figs. 4(a) and 4(b), for as-cast C-Mn-Al
and C-Mn-Al-Ti steels respectively.18) Thus, the hot
ductility behaviour, under conditions, which are closer
to commercial practice, can be very different to that given
by the simple hot ductility test. Although the more
complex temperature cycling may generally rank the
still

surface temperature prior to straightening then cycles; steels in the

same order, this
maynot always be the case.
the temperature falling as the sprays impinge on the Conditions at the surface of the strand are also very
strand and then rises as the strand moves through different to those to which the surface of the tensile
the guide rolls. These temperature oscillations have a sample is exposed. Tensiles are normally very well
pronounced influence on the precipitation processes, protected from oxidation often being both Ni plated
encouraging precipitation to occurl5~ 17) and generally and tested in an argon atmosphere. The strand is exposed
both deepening and widening the trough. This can be to the atmosphere and the water sprays will enhance
seen in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) for "solution treated" oxldation, which may well cause a deterioration in
C-Mn-A115) and C-Mn-Nb-AI steelsl6) respectively. ductility.
This deterioration in ductillty is particularly marked in Finally, steels having CIevels close to the peritectic,

835 @1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ lnternational, Vol. 39 (1 999), No. 9

IOO

(a) (b)
:OO
90

81'
O 6O"al"il,,
no csdllrtio,l
~> osl:illlitio,1, an,plitude 50'C

70
I osciu•,ion, ,wlplitl:de 100'C
e
OO
e
s(,
e" ~:
~~

,ro I ~i s('

3O
I
21,

e 60'antlt~ no osl:illation
iO o'cination, amplltude SOoc

l oscilletion* amputude100QC
ro
o
7so 800 8so ,oo gSo rooo los,
75,1 8(x, 85e ,oo ~so roo] ro50 1100 Ii50
Temperaturl~ 'C Tempel]ture,'C

a Hot ductiNty curves of C-Mn-AIsteel wfth alld without te!t,perature oscill,rtiom. b Hot ductility cluve$ tor C-Mn-AI$teet co,Itnjnjl,g Ti wi'h and wlthQut tanperutuls onjllpti0'1~L

Fig. 4. Hot ductility cLlrves for (21) 21S-cast C-MnAl alld (b) as-cast C-Mn-AI with a Ti addition. SteelS Were
tested with ~11ld Without oscillations. Ref. 18).

as in the present review, have been shown to be par-

ticularly susceptible to transverse cracking.i9'20) This
probably arises because the to phase transformation ~ y
is accompaniedby a contraction thus reducing the heat
loss from the mould wall.21,22) An uneven shell, which
is formed which
is thin in parts,
can be easily broken.
Clearly, the simple hot tenslle test can give little C-Mnand
C-Mn-A]
information on this phenomenon. steels

~;~
dynamic
rlecrystnll~5ation

i J( \~L
The Hot Ductility Curve e~

Typical hot ductiiity curves for C-MnAl and

C-MnNb-AIsteels are shown schematically in Fig. 5 t
(solid lines), and it is important to be able to recognise Ro dv. namic
recryst:tllisntion
the various regions on the curves and howthese regions Nl]
containing 5tcc]
relate to the problem of transverse cracking.
The poor ductility in the trough is always related to
intergranular failure at the grain boundaries.1) Cracks
y
are formed along these boundaries and can be caused
by two mechanisms, grain boundary sliding in the aus- Test temperature,'c
tenite and/or transformation controlled intergranular Fig. 5. Schematic diagram illustrating the ductility levels that
failure. The former
muchencouraged by having
is
very can be achieved with and without dynamic re-
crystallisation at the high temperature end of the
particles at the boundaries
and can be enhancedfurther,
trough. Ref. 8).
as in Nbcontaining steels, by the presence of a fine matrix
precipitation which is often accompaniedby precipitate either via normal transformation prior to deformation,
free zones; all of which concentrate the strain onto the or by the deformation itself.
boundary. Transformation controlled intergranular fail- The thin film of ferrite at the boundaries is indeed
ure is due to the formation of thin films of ferrite sur- generally deformation induced and forms readily at
rounding the y grain boundaries. Since ferrite is softer temperatures up to the Ae3.1) Recovery in ductility at
than y and the temperature and strain rate are such as the low temperature end of the trough depends only on
to allow ready recovery, all the strain concentrates in significant amounts of ferrite being present (-450/0
these thin films, encouraging voiding around the MnS to give of R A
values of 60 o/o) independent of whether
inclusions sltuated at the boundaries and these voids it is produced by normal transformation or strain
gradually link up to give failure. induced.8,23.24)
As sufficient always eventually be present
ferrite will In these coarse grained steels, ferrite always forms first
at the low temperature end, ductility will always improve as thin films. The width of the trough then depends on
as ferrite has excellent ductility.8) This ferrite is formed whether this film can work harden so that deformation

C 1999 ISIJ 836

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9

can occur in other regions of the y, allowing further of transverse cracking.8)

transformation to ferrite. On strengthening, the film is Attempts have been madeto model the hot ductility
then able to thlcken as well as bringing in new areas curve with limited success.28,29) Recent work23) has used
within the '/ grain, which are able to transform to ferrite. the model of Yamanakaet al.28) to calculate the
Often this is not possible as the ferrite remains soft and minimumductillty assuming all the deformation takes
strain concentration then occurs in these regions giving place in the ferrite film. The equation for the fracture
failure.6)
rise to
poor ductility and ductile intergranular strain, ef then simplifies to:
In this case, ductility only recovers at 20-30'C below the
= V.{k(1
ef -./')}/f'
Ar3 whenlarge amountsof normal transformation ferrite
are present and the trough can be very wide stretching where V* is the volume fraction of the ferrite and ,f is
from below the Ar3 (undeformed) to the Ae3. 1) However, the inc]usion volume fraction.
there are many instances when deformation induced For a given inclusion volume fraction, the recovery in
ferrite has been reported to form in large amountsjust ductility at the low temperature end is then solely related
below the Ae3 giving very narrow troughs.8,23,27) to the arnount of ferrite that can form. For the strain
Studies23 ~ 27) have therefore been carried out in recent rate used, it is assumedthat once the minimumductility
years to examine the conditions required to produce is achieved, the ductility does not change with further
deformation-induced ferrite and how it can be encou- increase in temperature until dynamic recrystallisation
raged to form in large enough amounts to improve takes place. The temperature at which dynamic recry-
ductiiity. This research is stillin its early stages but it is stallisation first
occurs, TD, can then be found from
found that increasing the strain rate and refining the where the curve of critical strain for dynamic recrys-
y
grain size encourage its formation.25,26) Composition tallisation, e. (taken as the strain to the peak stress
also plays an important part as this controls the in the stress/strain curve, 8p and which can be calculated),
temperature at which the transformation takes place and intersects the horizontal line representing the ductility
elements which raise the Ae3 temperature are favoured when no dynamic recrystallisation is possible, 8f' Fig.
for aiding ferrite formation of higher temperatures.24) 6(a). This model can also be used to showhowthe curves
Recent unpublished work by the author has shown are influenced by increase in the strain rate and refinement
that reducing the C Ievel which increases the rate of in grain size, Figs. 6(b) and 6(c) respectively. However,
transformation of y to c( is most effective in encouraging this work23,30 - 32) fails to take into account the influence
the formation of large quantities of deformation induced of microalloying particles on ductility but more
ferrite just below the Ae3, resulting in very narrow importantly fails to address fully the influence of grain
troughs. CIevels need to be O. I o/o Cfor this to happen. boundary sliding on the R of A values.
Thus, Iow C Ievels below the peritectic C range are to It is not proposed in this review to
go into detail into
be recommendedwhenever possible for as well as the factors which control hot ductility, as these can be
discouraging the formation of columnar grains and found in previous reviews on the subject.1 ~4) Neverthe-
refining the as-cast grain size,1) Iow CIevels will benefit less, it is
necessary to mention the four most important
ductility by producing very narrow troughs. variables that control ductility; strain rate, grain size,
At the high temperature end of the trough, ductility precipitation and inclusion content, (their size, volume
dramatically improves when dynamic recrystallisation fraction and distribution being important) Increasing the .

occurs, Fig.
5.8)
Any cracks that are formed at the grain
boundaries becomeisolated as the grain boundary moves
awayfrom the cracks and newgrains are formed and in
consequencecrack growth is halted. However, dynamic
recrystallisation not possible during conventional
is
continuous casting since the strain involved in straight-
ening (2 o/o) is too small and the grain size is too
coarse.1) (Although strains can be greater in thin slab
casting whenpre-deformation is used and the grain size
will be finer, it is still too coarse and dynamic recrys-
tallisation does not take place).
The use of the high temperature end of the trough in
predicting what happens on straightening during con-
tinuous casting must therefore be treated with great
caution. Raising the temperature at the straightener
can nevertheless improve ductility by coarsening preci-
pitates or reducing the amount of precipitates formed
in the boundary regions, but the improvement in duc-
tility is often small and
not sufficient to entirely eliminate
strain rate and refining the grain size (and this has to be
generally below 200 ktm to have any significant effecti))
both give rise to improved ductility; the former by
reducing the amount of grain boundary sliding and the
latter by making it
moredifficult for cracks to propagate
along the boundaries. Unfortunately, it is not generally
possible to alter either of these sufficiently in conventional
continuous casting to makeany significant difference to
ductility.
The other two variables which have a major infiuence
on the hot ductility are precipitation and inclusions; the
finer the precipitation, the worse is the ductility. Grain
boundary precipitation is particularly deleterious. I ) This
arlses because for a given volume fraction of precipitate
and/or inclusions, the finer the particles at the boun-
daries, the closer they are to each other and the easier
it isfor cracks to interlink. Strain induced precipitation
is always finer and more detrimental to ductility than
precipitation present before strain.33) In the case
that is

the problem of transverse cracking.8) The form of the hot of Nb and V

containing steels, a large part of the
ductility curve in this case, whendynamic recrystallisa- precipitation comesout dynamically during the straight-
tion is absent, is shownschematically in Fig. 5, (dashed ening operation and so can be very detrimental to
curve), and this is the curve that is relevant to the problem ductility. I)

837 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ Internationai, Vol, 39 (1999), No. 9

(c)
(a) (b)

8f2
~~ee

- ~8h tlt,-

c-e
8.
e, 8fl
11
F
l N 8 fl
colr$'f'
F
8f 1 l -
- ~ l ~
~
8s:
I
l , ~ ~SCl
l
l
I
I
t
IL

~ cl
'tL
coar5e

, I tL
I ~DRX t Cc2 ti"'
t Tp, I
r
T~ tT:h
Tl,t

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram showing (a) howthe width of the ductility trough could be controlled by the dynamic
recrystallisation (DRX). (b) howincreasing the strain rate reduces the depth and the width of trouth g*1,
8rl,and TDI refer to the lower strain rate, s*2' gr2, and TD2 refer to the higher strain rate. (c) howrefining
the grain size reduces the depth and the width of trough, g.1, efl' and TDI refer to the coarser grain size,
ef2 and TD2 refcr to the finer grain size. Ref. 31).
*2

1oo IOO

90
Cooiing rates
90

80 e O 60PC!min

70
80 ~ lO(rC/min

U 20(rC/min

~:~~

~D.
60

SO
-
~ ~~.'
70

60
IF

40 ~i
~
30 ~ 50

20 o C-Mn-Al
A C-Mn.Nb-Al
o D
~0
eL • C-Mn•Al-Ti
40
a
x C-Mn-Nb-Al-Ti
30
O
l0~ 10-3 l0-2 10-1 100
ro

Strain rate, s'l

a
lO

Fig. 7. Variation of reduction of area with strain rate for 751) 800 850 91]o 950 rolro ro50 Imo
Temperature~'C
HSLAsteels (after Ref. 35)).
Frg. 8. Hot ductility curves for as-cast C-Mn-Nl~Al steel,
given different cooling rates to the test temperature.
With thin slab casting, increased by the strain rate is
Ref. 18).
a factor of -5 compared to conventional continuous
casting and the grain size is refined, but only slightly. 34)
centrate on the infiuence of the residual elements, Cu,
This increase in strain rate will lead to improved hot
ductility. Fig. 735) (- 10"/o increase in the of value), R A
Sn, P, as well as S
and the microalloying additions of N
but the refinement in graln size (e,g. to in 3mm I mm V and Ti; these being the elements which have received
simulative laboratory tests34)) is unlikely to be sufficient
most attention since the last review.1)
to have a significant influence on ductility. The faster
cooling rate close to the surface of the thin slab strand
Influence of Residual Cu on Transverse Cracking
(-200'Cmin~1), causes precipitation to be refined A potential
processing problem associated with
steel
leading to reduced ductility, Fig. and this to a 8,18,34) Cu and other residual elements is cracking during con-
large extent, offsets the improvement in ductility from tinuous casting, which may on occasions be related
the increased strain rate. Becauseof this, the hot ductility to the more classical hot shortness phenomenon.It is
data information already obtained from conventional therefore important to briefly discuss the subject of hot
thick slab casting is still likely to be relevant to the thin shortness.
slab casting operation. (Note the effect shownin Fig. 8 Metallic elements that remain in the steel in small
of increasing the cooling rate in reducing ductility, also quantities after refining is complete and which are not
applies to simple C-MnAl
steels34)). deliberately added to steei are defined as residuals, as
Bearing In mind all the foregoing limitations the they are always present to somedegree. Someelements,
influence of composition on hot ductility and transverse like copper and tin remain because they cannot be
cracking will now be reviewed. The review will con- preferentially oxidised when normal steelmaking me-

C 1999 ISIJ 838

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9
thods are used.36) The main processing problem caused
by the presence of residual elements in steels is hot
shortness. Hot shortness results directly from the fact
that residual elements more noble than iron, such as
copper, tin, nickel, arsenic and antimony, are not oxidised
whensteel is reheated. Consequently, as iron is removed
preferentially from the surface layers, these residual
elements build up progressive]y in the subscale layer.
To avoid hot shortness, Melford37) has suggested that
Cu+ 6(Sn + Sb) k ,
9 o 6 9 12
where k depends on the degree of enrichment which in sn sb ,~* .* r~, (9~ b~, m***) sl,, s*= ,\*. ivl,' *,* *\'i (?i'*
by ~*=~)
turn dependson the furnace atmosphere, time in furnace Fig. 9. Ternary isotherms inustratlng the infiuence ofvarious
and temperature. elements on the sotubihty of copper in austenite. Ref,

Cu is the major cause of hot shortness since it can 37)

enrich to a level exceeding its solubility lirnit in austenite

(a) arter Melford 1966
(b) after Salter 1966
(9 o/o) and such an enrichment is possible under conditions
of severe oxidation. At reheating temperatures in the
with Cu pick up in the mould.40,44)
range I 100-1 200'C, the Curich phase that precipitates Wolt~4,45) has reported that residual Cucauses surface
is molten (melting point of
Cu is I 080'C) and tends to cracks and points out that these intergranular cracks are
penetrate the austenite grain boundary leading to surface
affected by the modeof secondary cooling. Severe cooling
cracks during subsequent rolling operations.37) In
reduces sca]ing but raises thermal stresses. Because of
contrast, Ni has been shownto have a beneficial effect,
this, softer cooling is generally preferred despite greater
since it stabilises austenite and increases the solubility of
residual enrichment by scaling. Air mist spraying, which
Cu, preventing the precipitation of Cu. Fisher38) has
studied the effect of Ni additions on the prevention of
would reduce thermal stresses, was found to result in
significantly enhanced scaling and this should be
the molten Curich phase and shownthat the Ni : Curatio
accompaniedby residual enrichment. However, Lewis46)
must be in the range 1.5 to 2.0 to increase the solubility disputes this inference, finding no difference in en-
of Cu in austenite so that hot shortness is avoided.
Fisher38) has also pointed out that while Ni Curatio
richment between casts given a variety of different
a : secondary cooling conditions, including air mist spray-
of l.5 to 2.0 is required for Ni to increase the solubility
ing. Nickel again seems to be added, to combat the
of Cuin sufficiently to prevent liquid phase formation,
y effect of Cuin
someelectric arc furnace shops, although
ratios of I
: I or less can be effective by promoting there is not always firm evidence for its beneficial
oxidation and subscale occlusion at temperatures as low effect.47,48)
as 1150'C.
As well as residual Cu giving rise to hot shortness
Wigmanand Millet48) of Nucor steel have also noted
that in thin slab casting, the Cu level must not exceed
problems during hot rolling, Cu has been reported to
give surface problems in continuously cast products and
O.
15 Cu checking in of the slabs during rolling is to
o/o if

be avoided. When melt-in copper exceeds O. 15o/o a similar

these reports will nowbe reviewed.
addition of Ni is required to prevent cracking from
The statistical analysis of works data by Hannerz39) occurring.
has revealed no infiuence of Cu on the incidence of slab
defects, but in this study only residual Cu contents
Thus summarising, residual Cu is detrimental to
up surface quality and encourages transverse cracking.
to O.0070/0 were examined. In all other reports, in which
Nickel additions appear to counteract the detrimental
residual Cu levels have been higher, Cuhas always been
influence of Cu, but a similar addition does not always
found to be detrimental to surface quality.40-42)
Burden et al.40) have reported surface cracks in appear to be enough to prevent the problem.
continuously cast blooms which have been shownto be
As mentioned the other residual element which needs
to be tightly controlled is tin, particularly in the presence
associated with enrichment of copper, nickel and tin.
of residual Cu. Born49) has noted that the addition of
Anelli et a!.41) have also shown the presence of a
0.05 o/o Sn to a steel with 0.20/0 Cu has a marked effect
Cu-Nl-Sn low melting point phase penetrating downthe
y grain boundaries in EAFcontinuously cast blooms.
in increasing the cracking index, particularly at 150'C. I
The residual Culevel in these steels wasin the range O. 10
Influence of Cu on the Hot Ductility of Steels
to O. 17o/o.Sn enrichment can be particularly serious since
it reduces the solubility of Cuin austenite, Fig. 9,37) and Only a few investigations have been carried out into
lowers the melting point of the CuSnenriched zone.43) the influenceof Cu on hot ductility in the temperature
Analysis of works data at British Steel indicates that range I 100 to 700'C.39's0,51) Of these, Hannerz39) has
plate steels containing Nb with additions of 0.250/0 Cu examinedCuthe most extensively up to levels of I o/o in
and O.250/0 Ni have a greater incidence of transverse a 0.070/0 C, l.5 o/o Mnplain C-Mnsteel but could find
cracking comparedwith slmilar grades without Cu and no significant influence of Cu
on hot ductility at
Ni addltions.42) It should also be noted that intergranular temperatures > 700'C. These steels were heated to
cracks in continuously cast products have been associated 1350'C and cooled at 60'Cmin1 to the test tempera-
839 C 1999 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9

IOO

,(,

JL steel I ([ow residuaD

(F steel 2(CuNi)
80
C] steel3(Cu)

70
e stl:el4(Ni)

e,)

,(,

,,

40

,o

X 37,000
20
Fig. Il. Copper sulphide particles found in as-cast Cu
contalning steels after testlng in an oxidising atmo-
lo sphere. Ref. 51).

sphere was used. Tensile samples cast directly after

700 750 800 850 900 9so rooo ro50 melting and tested under an argon atmospherewere again
T.*p..*tw., 'c found not to be influenced by compositional changes.
Fig. lO. Hot ductilitycurves for as-cast C-MnAl-Nb
steels Only whenthe tensiles were cast and allowed to cool in
tested "air"
in (argon flow discontinued) steel-1, air
was the deleterious effect of copper on hot ductility
low residual, steel-2, 0.25 "/* Cu, 0.25"/, Ni, steel-3, obtained and this could be prevented by a similar addition
0.5'/. Cu, steel-4, 0.5 '/* Ni. Ref. 51).
of nickel, (O.25 "/, of each), Fig, 10.

ture and tested in an argon atmosphere. Ductility below

Noevidence for Cu rich films penetrating along the y
boundaries was found, ruling out conventional hot
700'C was impaired by the I o/o Cu addition but this shortness as the explanation. The deterioration could be
could be due to copper precipitation from the I o/o Cu explained by the observation of fine copper sulphides (or
in solution. Hannerz39) contrasts his laboratory results
oxysulphides) particles at the boundaries, Fig. 11, which
with the commercial observations of Cu causing poor
had formed on cooling as a result of oxidation and the
surface quality and cracks and indicates the need to carry
presence of Cu, according to the reaction:
out tensile tests in an oxidising atmosphere.
Nachtrab and Chou50) have suggested that impurity 2MnS+ 02 + 4Cu= 2Cu2S+ 2Mn043)
segregation to boundaries, (Cu, Sn and Sb), may en-
The need to have cast conditions in order to produce
courage intergranular failure. They carried out Auger these sulphides probably arises because an increased
examinations on the intergranular fractures of several
segregation of Cu is required for the above reaction to
commercial C-MnA1and C-Mn-Nb-AI steels heated proceed to any degree. Ni, by increasing the solubllity
directly to the test temperature or cooled after partial
of Cuin lron, might be responsible for a reduced driving
solution treatment. In all cases, pronounced Ssegrega-
force for Cu precipitation.
tion to the boundaries was found but no correlation
could be established between this and the hot ductility
It
was pointed out in this laboratory work,51) that the
oxidation conditions were very muchless severe than
behaviour. It was found that the ductility troughs 'were
during continuous casting. In continuous casting, the
mainly related to the microalloying precipitation, with
water cooling and reheating as the strand passes through
possibly, somecorrelation with the segregation of Cu,
the rolls provides enhancedconditions for oxidation, and
Sn and Sb to the y boundaries. This type of segregation therefore this work mayunderestimate the influence of
only occurred during deformation. Of interest in their
Cu on hot ductility. It was suggested that although the
work is that steels with - 0.2 o/o Cugave a grain boundary laboratory work had indlcated that a Ni : Cu ratio of
analysis for copper of 4o/o. The tensile tests were carried
l : I would maintain good ductility, it was felt that the
out in vacuum so it is not too surprising that the oxidising conditions present during contin-
detrimental influence of Cu on hot ductility could not more severe
uous casting would lead to a greater residual enrichment
be positively confirmed. requiring a higher Ni addition and a Ni : Cu ratio closer
More recent work by Mintz et al.51) has looked into 2I
the effect of oxidation in more detail. Both C-Mn-A1
to : It was also recommendedthat, since copper
.

sulphides were the cause of the poor ductility, sulphur

and C-Mn-NbAlsteels containing Cuand or Ni up to levels should be kept low.
0.5 o/o Wereexamined. No effect of Cu or Ni was found
on the hot ductility whenthe steels were solution treated Other Residual Elements
at 1330'C and cooled to the test temperature, inde-
pendent as to whether a protective or oxidising atmo- In the case of tin, Sladik and Lonauerova52) have found

C 1999 ISIJ 840

 ISIJ International, Vol, 39 (1999), No, 9
noted on tensile testing. Suzuki et al.55) have tested a
lOO
plain C-Mnsteel (O.050/0 C, 1.4"/. Mn) with a range P
90 of 0.003 to O.32"/*. Again hot ductility improved as the
80
phosphorus content increased. Recent work by George
et al.56) and Abic057) have also shownthat adding small
A A additions of to ultra high purity Fe , (0.027 o/* P56) and
70
P
O.050/0 P,57) respectively) causes the tensile ductility
~~
60
ee markedly improve.
to

SO
Nevertheless, Japanesework58) has demonstrated that
e~
A
40 transverse cracks are normally associated with very high
segregation of P. Yashimaet al.s9) have caiculated that
30
for a steel with 0.25~/o C, the last liquid to solidify will
20

lO
o
A
NoTin
0'1% Tin
l contain about 5"/o P.
level
A
0,1 o/o steel with the same P
C
would have about I o/o Pin the final interdendritic
J liquid. Adams60)has identified Pas being detrimental to
O high temperature (> 1300'C) ductility of plain steels,
C
600 ?oo 800 900 rooo lroo 1200 (0,13-0.93~/* C, 0.02-0.030/* P). Adamsfound that the
Test temperature,'C
ductility of
addition of P extended the zero ductility temperature
Fig. 12. Influence of 0,1 o/o Sn on the as-cast hot
Ref. 52). range some 80'C below the equilibrium solidus tem-
a C-Mn--Steel.
perature. This was due to P having segregated to the
grain boundaries, resulting in stabilisation of liquid
that the addition of 0.10/0 Sn seriousiy impairs the hot yfilms
ductiiity 0.05~loC,
of O.6"/oMn steel, Fig. 12.
(i.e. segregated P
Iowers the liquidus and solidus
a temperatures depending on the Ccontent).
Matsuoka53) has also shownthat the combination of Cu
and Sn is particularly detrimental to the hot ductility,
Summarising, Pis likely to improve the hot ductility
of the continuously cast strand provided segregation is
and their influence becomesmore marked as the Ievel C reduced and will make it easier to avoid transverse
advances to the peritectic range. cracking during straightening. However, if sufficient
Sb is likely to be nearly as detrimental as Sn54) since segregation of phosphorushas occurred then interdendri-
it reduces the solubility of Cuin '/ in a similar manner37) tic liquid will be present at a temperature weli below the
but no quantitative data is available. Although the bulk solidus temperature. The presence of these liquid
presence of As may be somewhatbetter according to wlll severely reduce the
there is no information on the effect of this element
films at the
y grain boundaries
Fig. 9 ductility of the as-cast steel, making the cast steel
on hot ductility. susceptible to cracking both early on after casting (in the
With the increasing use of electric arc steel with the front.6i)
mould) and at the solidification
consequent increase in scrap metal, there is a need to Hence, although small additions have been shownto
establish clearly the limits to which these tramp elernents hot and reduce cracking,
improve ductility transverse
can be tolerated. such a methodcould not be recommended at the present
time.
Influence of P
There is considerable evidence in the literature that Influence of N on Transverse Cracking and Hot Ductility
phosphorus improves the ductility of the continuously Hannerz's statistical of work's data39) has
analysis
cast strand at temperatures between700-1 200'C, provid- shown that N very potent
is encouraging
in transverse
ed the carbon content is less than 0.25 "/0.6,39,5s- 57) cracking in continuously cast steel. Hannerz39) has also
Russian analysis of work's data47) has found that the shownthat nitrogen itself has little influence on the hot
best element to have present as a residual to avoid ductility of high Mnsteels (1 .4 "/o Mn). It is only when N
cracking was P. They recommendedkeeping P Ievels is present with Al that ductility is impaired. It is therefore
close to the maximum allowable, 0.020/0. The work also the influence N has on precipitation processes that
suggested that Cr was good for ductility and reco- dictates the ductility and in consequence, the various
mmended raising the Cr level to 0.3 o/*, although no ex- grain refining and microalloying systems will now be
planation for this benefit given. is
reviewed.
Phosphorus up to 0.020/0 has also been found by the
author to be beneficial for C-Mn-Nb-AIsteels, possibly C-Mn-AI Steels
because although is normally regarded as detrimental, There have been a number of investigations into the
P
it segregates to boundaries and vacant sites preventing N
infiuence of Al and on hot ductility.39'62 ~ 66) Generally,
the precipitation of the more detrimental fine NbCN the simple hot tensile procedure is used in which the
precipitation from taking place.6) Works data and tensiles are solution treated at 1330'C and cooled to test
laboratory work both confirm the benefits for the Nb I
temperatures in the range OOOto 700'C and tested at
is found that increasing
containing steels.6) similar trend has been found by
A a strain rate of - l0~3 s~1. It
in
Hannerz39) using regression analysis on works data, either the A1 or N
Ievels leads to a deterioration

phosphorus reducing the incidence of surface defects for ductility causing both widening and deepening of the
a
microalloyed and C-Mnsteels. Similar benefits were trough, as can be seen from the work of Chamontet

841 @1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9

IOO
100 /::~/';~~:
/;/ /f '
~) 80 /i Ill
80 (;

1
1' ,
Q, f!
*
C
~5 SO '
It e
=
l//. A!s A!s ' N
e
o
o kO ~ ll:.' (ro
-,
wt'y.) r'a
., wt'y.')
.\'
60
,
~
--- --~
~~.._~l_j~1;b"

~ ' '2s. o ',

s ,
o
Oe , 7. 5 2' IL
e~
3, !
20 - -- -s6.0 40 'L
•• e-
2e. o 5. 5

o
700 800
Temperature 'C
900 looo Iloo 20
o'015Nb-o'0020

N
o'018NbilJ'o'0063
N 1l
Fig. 13. Hot ductility curves for CMnAl
steels with various
o
levels of soluble A1 and N. Ref. 62).
600 700 800 900 moo
Temperature, 'c

al.62) jn Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Influence of N on the hot ductility of Nbcontaining
Cardoso et al.64) have recently examinedthe influence steels. Ref. 9).

of A1 and N in detail. Their work showedthat it was

the product of the [sol.Al] x [N] which is important in
cracking and where this principal has been followed there
controlling ductility and it does not matter for the same
have been no problems with cracking.i)
product whether it is the N or Al that is high. Because
AlN precipitates frorn the very sluggishly, it is often y C-Mn-Nb-AISteels
difficult to find any influence of Al and on the hot N The influence of N
on transverse cracking of these
ductility at low levels, (O.02/0.04 o/o Al, O.005 "/, N), as no steels has been found to be marked.39) The hot ductility
AlN precipitates out either before or during the test.6,33) behaviour also mirrors the transverse cracking behav-
For hlgh Mn
steels (1.40/0 Mn), the product of the iour, in that higher
N
Ievels give rise to worse duc-
[sol.Al] x [N] had to approach x (e.g. 0.040/* Al
2 104 tility.9'69) However, changes in ductility are generally
and 0.005"/*N) for precipitation to occur. However, smaller, than might have been expected from the
whentemperature oscillations are introduced, AlN pre- transverse cracking behaviour. Fracture examination of
cipitation occurs even in low A]/N steels, whenthe prod- tensile samples and from continuously cast slabs, indicate
uct is
as low as I x l0~4 (e,g. 0.020/0Al and 0.0050/0 little evidence for AlN precipitation, except at very high
N).64) Similar behaviour is noted for as-cast C-Mn-Al Al levels, and then it is coarse.6) The temperature for the
steels given a conventional cooling
programmewith no maximum rate of precipitatlon is in the region of 950'C

temperature cycling, presumably due to the marked for NbCN and 815'C for AlN so that NbCN would be
segregation of Al to the boundaries when solidifica- expected to precipitate out before AlN on cooling, and
tion occurs.7) Turkdogan67) has calculated that the as mentioned AlN has great difficulty in nucleating on
segregation of AI to the boundaries will increase the cooling through the range.70-72) Nevertheless,
y
concentration of A1 there by a factor of 6. increasing the A16,8,73,74) or Ievel9'69) in these
Nb N
It is likely with temperature oscillations that a large containing steels does cause the ductility to deteriorate.
proportion of the is precipitated
N
out as AlN, so that There is some evidence to suggest6) that the inferior
it is probably the volume fraction of AlN precipitated ductility obtained on adding Al is due to the Al produc-
which mainly controls ductility. It should also be noted, ing a finer precipitation of Nb(CN), rather than any
that AlN precipitation in lower Mnsteels is likely to be precipitation of AlN. Wangand Akben75) have also
easier, since Mnincreases the solubility of carbonitrides shown that the addition of Al slows down the pre-
in the austenite.68) cipitation of Nb(CN). It is possible that the A1 slows
Coarsening of the AlN precipitation might be expected down movementof the atoms so that precipitation
the N
to improve ductility. Coarser precipitation is likely to of Nb(CN) occurs at lower temperatures, and hence is
be favoured by a) slower cooling rates to the test tem- finer. However, precipitation of AIN on increasing the
perature, b) prestrain prior to deformation, c) a high N
A1 or Ievel cannot be ruled out, since AlN is not always
value of [Al] x [N] as this will encourage precipitation easy to detect.
to occur at higher temperatures but this has the dis- Ouchi and Matsumot09)have suggested that the effect
advantage of increasing the volume fraction of AlN of N on Nb containing steels may be dependent on
precipitated and d) a higher level of dissolved Al as the whether the N Ievel is above or below 0.005 ~/*. Fig. 14.
growth rate of the AlN precipitate will be dependent on At low N Ievels (O.002"/o N), NbC0.8s Was formed
the dissolved Al in the y, Al being the s]ower diffusing whereas at higher N Ievels (0.0060/*), this changed to
element in the precipitate. However, such coarsening 1~r ~T
Nu*0.6^~0.25' It
was suggested that Nb(CN)is able to
appears difficult to achieve in the time available during precipitate more readily than NbCin the lower tem-
the test or during straightening. perature region of y. Certainly, with microalloyed
Clearly, for C-Mn-AI steels it is
recommendedthat steels,
on cooling down through the austenite field, it
the Al and N Ievels are kept low to avoid transverse is the nitrides which will precipitate first before the

@1999 ISIJ 842

 ISIJ international, Vol, 39 (1999), No. 9

IOO 1OO O
99 9Q
RofA .005
A oJ)042%N .
Volume
X o.aos'/o N I
l
~~.'
Fraction NbCN .OIO
81)

O o~l 1'/o
N / 80 zO
70
'
/
/

e ~
c'
,,
70 (a) .015 A
Z
.:
15 o
~~ 6O Xl Ae3 .020
5:Io,a

L: 6O
~ L
~
S(]
tL
e~ .025 1,
SO
4O
a' =-
E
a:
1
e
40
.0140/0C
.~3Q
n
>o
30 \ l .1Oo/oC
30 . .035
20 ~lAe3 A .160/0C

20
10
700 80O 900 1OOO 11OO
650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1Ooo Test Temperature ('C)
Test Temperature, 'C
10 .oOO
Fig. 15. Influence of N on hot ductility of C-MnNb-Al
steels.
(Sol. Al, 0.032-0.0420/0, Nb, 0.0340/0). Ref. 69).
.OO5
(b)
carbides. Thusraising the Ncontent mightif be expected to
encourage precipitation the composi-
in the austenite / (:
7 .OIO ~
tion of the precipitate approaches closer to a nitride. ~(ee / high SNb steel S
Work by Mintz and Arrowsmith69) has however, ~
~
,~
shownthat the deterioration in hot ductility is progressive e
~~ ~
~,

throughout the range O.004 to 0.01 1o/o and changes in

is probably
N .015 :~
~r
(~
ductility are relatively small, Fig. 15. This /
because an increase in the nitrogen level will have only
a small influence on the volume fraction of Nb(CN)that .020
is precipitated out. Compared to the other microalloying C:1
Lov S. F~b oont.]ning !~eel

additions, Nb(CN)precipitates out very rapidly during A H]gi] ~Nbeo,It.lhing sted

C,dcullted vo]umel~l't]oi] ufNbstee

- - -
deformation and often all or a very large part of the Nb
.025
is precipitated out in the time of the test at these low
750 800 850 ,1,0 •so rooo l050 uoo
strain rates, (i.e, equllibrium conditions are achieved),
T.~p.~tu~,'c
Fig. 16.12,76) Again, because the Ievel would not be
N Fig. 16. Calculated volume fractions of NbCprecipitation as
expected to have muchinfluence on the volume fraction
a function of test temperature with accompanyinghot
of Nb(CN)that is precipitated, the detrimental influence ductility curves assuming equilibrium conditions.
of N on transverse cracking is most likely related to the (As-cast calculation assumes 50'/, of NbCis in the
enhancementof AlN precipitation, which occurs during eutectic.)

the temperature oscillations to which the strand is subject. (a) solution treated Ref. 76).
(b) as-cast Ref. 12).
Clearly, whatever the exact mechanismof embrittle-
ment it is nevertheless, important to keep the as well N compared their ductility a more conventional
with
as the Al levels as low as possible. Raising the Nblevel
at constant N
Ievel, as would be expected, also causes
0.030/0 Nb, 0.0050/0 N Samples as before, were
steel.
solution treated and strained at a strain rate of
the hot ductility to deteriorate9'69,74,77) as well as
encouraging transverse cracking. 2,9) 3x l0~3 s~ I to failure. The curves are shownin Fig 17,
and that
indicate raising the or Ievel causes the V N
C-Mn-V-AI Steels ductility to deteriorate. The effect of increasing the
Until recently there has been very little information product of the total and total N, [Vt]V x [Nt], in
is known
V reducing the width and depth of the trough, are shown
on the hot ductility of containing steels. It
in Figs. 18(a) and 18(b) respectively. Also included in
that high V, high
cracking.17) Hannerz's39) statistical
N
steels are susceptible to transverse
these figures is the base line for the conventional Nb
analysis of works
data gave only a small detrimental effect of on V containing steel so that cornparisons can readily be made.
transverse cracking but only a few containing steels V It is apparent from these curves that the ductility
were included in the analysis. decreases with increase in and Ievels but provided V N
Hannerz's hot ductility work39) suggested that with a the product [Vt] x [Nt] is 1.2 x l0~3, e.g. O.1 o/o and V
steels will show a reduced propensity
V-N
high N
steel (0.0160/0 N), the content had to be in V 0.0120/0 N,
excess of 0.07"/* to produce a significant deterioration in to cracking comparedwith a conventional Nbcontaining
ductility. steel.

More recent work by Mintz and Abushosha78) has should be noted, that again, no AlN precipitation
It

in any of these steels, all the nitrogen being

100ked at steels with varying amounts of V and N and was observed

843 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1 999), No. 9

IOO combined with the vanadium. Wilson and Gladman72)

have also noted that VNcan form in preference to AlN,
90 despite the greater thermodynamicstability of the latter.
Raising the V or N Ievels was shown to increase the
80
amount of VNprecipitation. Although increasing the
product generally led to an increase in the volumefraction
70
of VNprecipitated, this was not always the case, as it
~ee

1~:
OO
can be shown that under equilibrium conditions N is
t,*e

~~ more effective in inducing precipitation than V.

Precipitates were coarser in the V containing steels
so
~- 0.0%V
than in the Nb steel probably as a result of the higher
40
HF
t~
0•05%V,LowN
O.05%V*High N solubility of V in the austenite comparedto Nb. Thus V
~~ O,1%V,LowN is less detrlmental to ductility than Nb because it
30 ~~
~:~.
0,ll%V,0.008N
0,1%V, Higil N
precipitates in a coarser form and
a greater volume
20
~r 0.028•$ Nl, fraction of precipitate is required to cause the ductility
to deteriorate.
700 750 800 850 900 950 Iooo l050 In accord with these observations, Crowther et al.79)
Te~perature,'c
have found that cracking in bend tests is far more severe
Fig. 17. Hot ductility a series of steels having
curves for
in Nb containing than
different of V and N. (also included is a curve
levels V containing steels. Mintz and
for a Nbcontaining steel for comparison). Abushosha80)have also found that the addition of V to
Steel were solution treated at 1330'C. Ref. 78).
a Nb containing steel with 0.005"/o N
improves hot
ductility but only for the lower temperature range
900800'C. Work by Revauxet a/.13) using as-cast and
0.028e/o Nb as-cast reheated notched tensiles again found that Nb/V
C~
150 steels gave better ductility in the lower temperature range
,
900'C but ductility wassignificantly worse in the higher
o: temperature range.
~e
Summarising, it is apparent that nitrogen in V
I~
100 containing steels is detrimental to ductility and should
~:
be kept as low as possible. Although V containing steels
mayshowa reduced tendency to exhibit transverse cracks
j~_

o comparedto Nbcontaining steels, the effect of pe,' se N

~
1'
50 maybe more serious in the V containing steels as the
~ detrimental precipitate here is entirely nitrogen based,
(a) i.e. VN, whereas for it is
Nb
generally a mixed
carbonitride, Nb(CN)with carbon being the major
con-
2 4 6 8 10 12
stituent. Adding V to a Nb containing steel
may give
[Vt] [NJ x 10~4 somebenefit to ductility in the lower temperature range
(temperatures.
900'C) but cause ductility to deteriorate at higher

50
Influence of N on Ti Containing Steels
55
Commercial Experie!]ce
50 Commercial data on the influence of Ti additions on
the problem of transverse cracking, indicates that small Ti
.\'

~~ 45 e additions have a beneficial effect, 17,8 1~ 84) Turkdogan67)

,
reports that whensteels have 0.0045 o/o N and Ti is in
~~

$::o
40
e the range 0.015 to O.020/0 transverse cracking is con-
10
:, siderably reduced. Hoesch81) have also established that
OC 35
(b)
Ti additions in the range 0.02 to O.04 o/* are beneficial
0.028'k Nbsteel e in preventing transverse cracks from forming. Coleman
30
and Wilcoxl7) reporting on British Steel experience,
(-O.0050/0 N) similarly state that Ti additions reduce
25
o 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9101112 transverse cracking and the recommendedrange has
~/t] [Nt]
x 10'4 recently been quoted as O.O15to O.04 o/. Ti. 82) Morerecent
experience at the Scunthorpe works of British Steel,83)
Fig. 18. (a) Effect of product of total V and N contents on indicates a reduced scarfing requirement when Tl
the width of the trough.
additions in the range O.015 to 0.020/~ are madeto Nb
(b) Influence of product of total V and N contents
on Rof A values; steels were tested at 850"C in the grade 50 steels having C I
in the range O. to O. 17 "/o, (i,e.
trough. Ref. 78). within the peritectic range), and nitrogen contents

C 1999 ISIJ 844

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999). No. 9

IOO
1oo
(a)
O•02%Ti
90 [
l
-

e Nb-AI 5teel

~~ 8a
•008%N A Ti steel

40 um 80
~
~s 60 70
~
~s (a)
:~ 60
-oco 40 500 um ~~.
-"fi free
50 260,t
A
2a e~ A
700 800 900 1ooo 40
Test Temperature (~C)
30
O
' 65
~
C~ 60 (b)
O039"/"Nb+a 012Ti
Z40 ,Lm

$:
O 20
J 0,55
~~
o
fo
Grain Slze = 89
um lO

6 050
~O45 O
650 700 750 800 850 900 950 Iooo l050
~3 0,40
Test Temperat*re, 'c
(b)
cD*

~5
O35 O039"/.Nb
030
Fig. 20. Influence of a 0.04 o/o Ti addition to a C-MnNb-Al
Q'o

o
Grain Size = 140 um steel containing 0.0040/0 N. The steels had similar
:1:
025 grain sizes after solution treatment, (grain size mark-
700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050
ed on curves), and in consequence only a small
Detormation Temperature ('c)
improvement was noted. Ref. 69).
Fig. 19. Influence of small Ti additions on the hot ductility
of reheated Nb containing steels. Grain sizes of the
steels after solution treating are indicated on the Fig. 20.69)
curves. The steel investigation had a very high Ti :N
in this
(a) Ref. 5) (b) Ref. 88). ratio of
: as well 9I
as a high product of [Ti] x [N],
l.72 x l0~4, and It is likely that only very coarse TiN
typically of 0.005 o/o. LowerTi additions (0.0 1o/o) showed particles were formed whlch would not be able to refine
no benefits. the graln size on subsequent heating. Such coarse
The optimum Ti addition to stop grain coarsenlng in precipitation would also probably account for the small
the HAZ Is around 0.01 o/o and above this leve], toughness
improvement in ductility that is in evidence.
is observed to deteriorate. In addition, at these higher
b) As-cast Tensile Tests
Ti levels, coarser TiN particles (several microns) are
To examine the influence of Ti additions on ductility
encouraged to form, particularly on slow cooiing and it is essentlal to cast the tensiles and cool directly to the
these can on occasions lead to poor impact behaviour.85)
test temperature. Whensolidificatlon occurs and the
It has also been claimed that for Ti treated Nb is formed, there is then little opportunity
as-cast structure
containing low steels C (
0.08 o/o C), no scarfing is re-
quired but these steels are outside the peritectic range
for Ti precipitation to cause grain refinement. The results
from two such investigations on as-cast tensiles are shown
and would not be expected to give problems.84)
in Figs. 21 and 22. 11,90) In both cases, no grain refinement
Flnally, Russian work47) on general surface quality
occurred in the Ti containing steels and as a consequence,
(Inc]udes all surface defects) of hot rolled skelps from
the large improvements in ductility previously noted for
continuously cast billets has found small Ti additions to
be beneficlal.
steel reheated to
- 1 350'C, Fig. 19 were absent. In the
earlier examination,1 l) Fig. 21, a rather small improve-
Hot Ductility Data for Ti Containing Steels ment in ductility similar to that shown in Fig. 20, was
a) Reheated Tensile Tests observed. Whereas,in a morerecent examination,90) Fig.
A
review of most of the papers86) on hot ductility in 22, a significant deterioration in ductility was apparent.
which Ti has been added to steels suggests that it is the Thus, for as-cast conditions, the benefit to ductility on
miracle cure for transverse cracking, ductility always adding Ti seemsto be either small or very detrimental.
Improvlng dramaticall 9,39,41,63,86 89) Curves from It should however, be born in mind that for Ti
-
y.
two
such examinations are shownin Fig. 19.5,88) containing as well as it being essential to cast the
steels,

However, all these investigations have beencarried out tensiles,

may be necessary to introduce temperature
also
it

In order to show
on steels which have been reheated so that the TiN osclllations up the true potential of a
particles have not completely re-dissolved and are Ti addition. It would be expected for example, in the
therefore able to grain refine when transformation to
y case of the Ti containing steel in Fig. 20, which shows
takes place, (the grain sizes are indicated on the only a small improvement in ductility over the Ti free
curves).86) The large improvements noted in ductility in steel, that this improvement would be magnified if
these examinations are therefore due to grain refinement, temperature oscillations had been introduced.
not differences in composition. In the sole investigation Indeed, very recent work91) with a Ti free and Ti
in which graln slze was not refined on reheating to containing steel of otherwise similar composition has
l350'C, only a small irnprovement in ductllity wasnoted, shown that whereas ductility was better for the Ti free

845 @1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9
lOO IOO

(a) (b) 111:L;:~:

91)
•o
o *'**
8s
80

70

70
e(,

~:

60 50
~!
e~ e~

41)

50

30

48
zo
r'TIL::;:t
30 10
o *"*"

20
o
700 7SO 80O 8SO ,OO 9$0 1000 IOeO
7so 800 8SO 900 950 1OOO
Ttmper•tur•'C
Ttmpenitur.. 'C

IOO

(')
90

OO

10

~~

~ 60
F~

5e

40

,e

20

700 ?5e 800 850 '111] '50 IOOo l051'

T'*p'"tu~'c

Fig. 21. Influence of Ti on hot ductility of as cast;

(a) 0.05 o/o C, CMnAlsteel
steel
(b) 0.150/0 C,
CMnA1 steel
(c) O.
I C, CMnNbAl
o/o

Ti levels were - 0.019 o/o and N was 0.009 o/o, Cooling rates were 60 to 100 Kmin~1. Ref. Il).

steel whencooling directly to the test temperature after of fine TiN particles at the boundaries, lOnm.7)
casting, the introduction of a temperature cycle prior to In contrast, in the earlier examination,11) coarser par-
testing resulted in the Ti containing steel giving
a 100/0 ticles
were found. In the C-Mn-AI steel in Fig. 21,
increase in the of R A
value at 900'C. Clearly, it is very the cuboidal TiN particles were in excess of 50nm,
important to be able to precisely define the conditions while in the Nb containlng steel, dendritic particles
which give rise to the small improvements shownin Fig. of NbTi(CN) richer niobium were obtained of simi-
in
21, and those which cause the marked deteriorations in iar size.1 i) (It should be noted that TiN and Nb(CN)are
Fig. 22. mutually soluble so that mixed carbonitrides are form-
Examination of their compositions suggests that it is ed in as-cast material, often rich in Nb rather than Ti.
the Ti : Nratio and levels of Ti and Npresent in the steel, It has been calculated that the segregation coefficient
which are important. The low N, Ti steels used in of niobium is very high, between 8and 25, while that of
Ref. 90), Fig. 22, had compositions very close to the Ti is between 3and 692)).
stoichiometric composition for TiN, 3.4 : l, whereas in Generally, particles
start to reduce ductility whenthey
the first examination on a higher
N steelli) (-0.009"/. are less than 50nmin size and are likely to give rise to
N), Fig. 21, with a similar Ti addition, the Ti : N ratio serious transverse cracking problems when they are in
was 2: I Replica examination of the Ti steel with the
.
the region of
- 10nm, Fig.
23,1) Thus, compositional
stoichiometric compositlon, has shown the presence control maybe very important if a Ti addition is to be

C 1999 ISIJ 846

 ISIJ International, Vol, 39 (1999), No. 9

(a)
l OO 100 (b)

90 90
I
!~

80
e v 80 ~?

70
70 Ti
Ti
60
~: fo IF
[]
50
~j 50

40 C]
dO
e 30

30
l
20
I l
20

lo
lO
I
o
750 800 850 900 950 lOOo I050 Iloo ll50 750 800 850 9uo 950 iooo ro50 Iloo

Temperature, 'C Temperatu re, 'C

Fig. 22. Influence of Ti on the hot ductility of
(a) as-cast C-MnA1
(b) as-cast C-Mn-Nb-AIsteels
Ti and N Ievels were 0.0200/0 and 0.0060/0, respectively. Ref. 90).

l OO
(a)
50
e 90

CP o e9SO'C
Tested at
o
.\*~' 80
25
O No plate
c9*,p
O relections
High plate
Particle size,
nm 70
Al
~o o releotions

c 20
o
~50
10 30 40050 60 70 (b]
60
l
50 l
5 e~ ,
~,p
Qe
*
t
o (E) 50
l
~L
1
25 L
O
Hi9h 8 No plate 40
t

~l
plate3ns, reiectlons e Nb-Ti stecl 2S!(/min

o
feieGtians
l 30
JL

- - -
Nb,tce~ 2S:(,min

NtFTist#]mox/min
Nb5tcc] 100K/min
O 50 1OO 150 20O 25O 300 350 Dr
-**=-=,
Interparticle Spacing, nm
20

750 8QO 850 900 9so looo

Fig. 23. Infiuence of (a) particle size and (b) interparticle 700

spacing on the hot ductility of Nb-containing steels T.~p.,.t**.* 'c

and their relationship to plate rejections. Ref, l).
Fig. 24. Effect of reducing cooling rate during casting to
25 K/min on an as-cast C-Mn-Nb-AIsteel with and
beneficial to ductility. without a Ti addition, (curve for the sameNbTi steel
cooled at 100Kmin~1, broken line shown for a
Influence of Cooling Rate comparison),
Levels of Ti and N were 0.020/0 and 0.0090/0
Considerable work7,34,90,93-95) has been carried out respectively. Ref, 11).
into the influence of cooling rate in the range 25 to
200 Kmin~ I on hot ductility for a wide variety of steels cooling to the test temperature has been used. i l) Whereas
including Ti containing steels. Invariably increasing the cooling a Nbcontaining steel at 100 min~ i to the test K
cooling rate results in worse ductility, Fig. 8, and this is temperature only gave a small improvement in ductillty
even so for plain C-Mnsteels. In all cases, the better when Ti was present, reducing the cooling rate to
ductility could be ascribed to either a finer particle size 25Kmin~i resulted in a significant benefit, Fig. 24. This
or finer inclusion distribution. slower cooling rate allowed the NbCto precipitate out
The greatest improvement in ductility that has been at high temperatures on the coarse TiN precipitates.
found so far on adding Ti to as-cast steel, is whenslow Precipitatlon was then generally coarser and there was

847 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol, 39 (1999), No. 9
less Nb available to precipitate out dynamically.
Turkdogan67) has suggested that during the later stages
25 .O
of solidification, most of the N
would be expected to
precipitate in a relatlvely coarse form as TiN in the 20
interdendritic reglons which maysubsequently become
the austenite grain boundaries. These coarse particles
would then form the nucleation sites for NbCand or S
VN, to precipltate out on at high temperatures. Turk-
i~
.~
,g
15
OQ '

dogan67) suggests that by the time the temperature has ~

.S
t:
dropped to 1200'C, (assuming the intense segregation of e~
el 10
Nb to the interdendritic boundaries) most of the Nb
will have precipitated as NbCso that none of the O !iil\~~':O:

1000eCslow cool

detrirnental fine strain induced NbCN

precipitation can 5
occur at lower temperatures in the range of the straight- O 1OOO'Cf 18t cooled

enlng operation; as a result of this, transverse cracking

is reduced. This
process would be favoured by slow o
cooling. However, recent work has shown that such o l 2 3 4 6 7
Ti:N ratio
an improvement in ductility over Ti free steels, which
occurs solely on slow cooling is valid for only a very Fig. 25. Average particle size against Ti : N
ratio for steels

narrow range of compositions.7,94) tested at I OOO'Cafter cooling at 25 Kmin~I (slow)

oi' 100200Kmin~I (fast). Ref. 7).

The Importance of the Ti : NRatio in Controlling Ductility

composition can be readily explained.
Experimental evidence has indeed only partially It should be noted however, that because of the

validated Turkdogan's model,7,11,94) since not all the generally wide variation in Ti and Ievels, both volume
N
TiN precipitates out during solidification as coarse fractlon and size of precipltates are important in Ti
particles and muchfiner Ti containing particles also form containing steels. Whenthe volume fraction is small as
during cooling when solid, as for example, the lOnm with very low N
Ievels (0.003-0.004 "/.), ductility can be
TlN particles in the steel with the stoichiometric reasonably good even at the stoichlometric rati0.94)
composition.7) Roberts9 6) has also found 8nm
size Raising the Ti further, above the stoichiometric level,
particles of TiN in a contlnuously cast V
containing slab will result in excess Ti in solution, which will
encourage
having a relatively high N, (O.008~/* N) and low Ti growth of the particles as well as ensure that they come
content, (0.011~/. Ti). These fine partlcles would be out at higher temperatures. Wilson and Gladman72)have
expected to give rise to poor ductility being within the recommended> O.06 o/* Ti to avoid problems with hot
samesize range as the detrimental Nb(CN)precipitation, ductility, but such high amounts of Ti produce coarse
Fig. 23. particles prior to solidification and the impact behaviour
ldeally, for Ti additions to give good ductility, one of plate steel maysuffer.
needs to remove nitrogen in a particle form which is To reduce the amount of Ti required, Iow Ievels
N
sufficiently coarse not to influence ductility and in the have been preferred. This reduces the volume fraction of
case of Nb V
and containing steels to be able to precipitate precipitates and allows any excess Ti in solution to
someof these microalloying addltions at high tempera- coarsen the particles, thus ensuring good ductility.
ture. Removal of nitrogen presents no problems, but Subramamiane.t a/.,97) examined a Nb containing
having the Ti containing particles in the right form does continuously cast slab with a very high Ti : ratio of
N
and this requires tight compositional control. 9 : I in which the Ievel
was N
very low at 0.0025 o/o. Here,

Coarse TiN particles can be achieved by ensuring that precipitation was found to consist mainly of coarse
they are formed at high temperatures and that the Ti in dendritic TiN particles formed at high temperatures and
solution is high so that they can coarsen readily during mixed carbides of Nb and Ti particles formed at much
cooling after solidification and act as nucleation sites for lower temperatures, the temperature of transition to
Nbprecipitation. mixed carbides being about I 065'C. This coarse
Ti being a powerful nitride former will virtually remove precipitation would be expected to give good ductiiity.
all the Nfrom solution and for a given N
content, The recent laboratory examinations7,94) have confirmed
increasing the Ti addition will increase the precipitate that high Ti : N
ratios result in a coarse particle size,
volume fraction. Whenthe stoichiometric cornposition Fig. 25.
for TiN is reached, i.e. Ti 'N ratio 3.4: I the maximum
,
Alternatively, raising the N
Ievel by increasing the
volume fraction of precipltate can form. Furthermore, product of the [Ti] x [N] will encourage precipitation at
the Ti containing particles then precipitate at the lowest higher temperatures, but nowthere will be little tendency
temperature so that they are fine lOnm, see Fig. 25. for growth and not all the nitrogen will be removedfrom
Such a composition, although good for grain refinement solution. Nevertheless such a steel with a lower Ti :N
in the final product, is llkely for
a glven N
conter^t to be ratio of 2 and N
Ievel of -0.009~/o, has indeed given a
the worst possible for ductllity. Thus, the poor ductility small Improvement in ductility over a Ti free Nb
shown in Flg. 22, for a steel with the stoichiometric containing steel at the faster cooling rates, (lO0-60 K
C 1999 ISIJ 848
 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999), No. 9
Nb(CN)precipitation temperature 80 e +
+
e+ +
e+++
/ l~~ o
O
60 +
e
1100 ehe +
O
o
:,
N* OJI080 wt'/.

5
40
f ee
+
~ + ++
o ~ eirh
CL I ooo F'

S
e o average conoentratio,l e e
h I~~~~ ~~
~~ ~~~l
. : moximum intensity nf
20
O c-Mn-Al-Ti atetee:I

-segregation
macro + l + c-Mn-Nl~Ti steel

goo
~
N- 0.0070 wl'/.

lo 20 30 40 50
P***i.', s*. (*~)
c o. ol o.02 o. 03 o.04 o. 05 o. os
Initial Nb concentration (wt?6) Fig. 27. Influence orpartide size on the Reduction of Area
in the temperature range 9501000'C for Ti
Fig. 26. Infiuence of the Nblevel in as-cast C-Mn-TiNb-Al
containing steels. Refs. 7) and 94).
steel
on the temperature at which Nb(CN)precipita-
tion starts. Steel contained 0.01 o/o Ti and 0.008 o/o N. cordance with the predicted behaviour noted in Fig. 26.
Ref. 97). Similar behaviour applies to the presence of Al, which
has been shown by Kirkwood to result in coarser TiN
particles.98,99) This could be an additional reason for the
min~1), Fig. 21, and a similar steel at a slower cooling
K
rate of 25 min~ I has given a marked improvement in
ductility being better in the steels with the Ti : ratios N
of 2: 1, as these steels had higher soluble Al levels,
ductility. Fig. 24. These benefits
maybe enhancedwhen (0.03-0.040/0 compared to 0.020/0 sol.AI for the steels
ternperature cycling is introduced.
with the stoichiometric compositions). Loberg et al.99)
Importance of Nband Al in Influencing the Size of the Ti have suggested that Al associates with the and although N
Containing Particles not producing a precipitate, this effectively increases the
amountof Ti in solution encouraging growth. A similar
Both Nband Al have been found to influence the size explanation could apply to the effect of Nb.
of the Ti containing particles.
Subramanianet al.97) have shown that the effect of Regression Relationships for Ti Containing Steels
increasing the Nbcontent in a steel with 0.008 "/* and N Recent work7,94) in which a large number of Ti
O.OI "/o Ti would be to increase the temperature for the
start of the precipitation of niobium carbonitride and
containing steels having a wide variation in Ti and
levels have been examined, has shownthat the ductility
N
hence give coarser particles. Fig. 26. It is not clear how
of these steels is complex and is best expressed by the
this will influence ductility, as the coarser particle size
following regression equations for the temperature range
would be accompaniedby a greater volume fraction of
precipitate.
950-1 OOO'C.
Subramanianet al.97)
have examined precipitation in For CMn-Al-Ti steels:7)

continuously slab having a very high Nb level R of A =44. I

cast
- O.169CR
o/o
a
(0.060/*) with a high
N Iow Ti level, (0.008~/o N and 3V~,-O.935[Ti] x [N] 105
+ 16.3 >

I
O.OI o/o Ti. Ti : N
ratio of 1.38 : l). The precipitate size
-119.2 4~/~Alr~:f •••••••••••,,•••••••(1)
of the Ti containing particles was found to vary from
1 900 to 80 for dendritic particles to 30-50nmfor
nm where CRis the cooling rate in Kmin ~ i , p* is the particle
cuboidal. Although the latter precipitates would be size in
nm, and N* is the free NIevel after Ti has combined
expected to reduce ductility, they are generally coarser with the nitrogen. A11 the variables are significant in this
than found in Ti free Nb containing steels and as such equation and the index of determination was 88 olo.
might be expected to have better ductility and be less It
can be seen from this regression equation that the
prone to cracking. finer the average precipitate size, the
worse is the duc-
Recent work by Comineli et al.,94) has indeed found tility. Similar relationships apply to these Ti containing
that the addition of Nbto a Ti containing steel coarsens steels as had been found previously for the simpler
the particle size and results in no change in ductility, as C-Mn-Nb-AI steels as can be seen from Fig. 27.7,94)
the benefit to ductility from this coarsening is offset by However, partly because the particle size measurements
the greater volume fraction of precipitation. In contrast, were madeat higher temperatures in the recent exami-
Roberts96) found very fine TiN particles, (8 nm), in nation, the average particle size is coarser. Cooling
a
continuously cast slab of a V containing Nb free steel, rate is important, as this dictates the size of the particles
having similar Ti and N contents. This indicated that as well as the inclusion size, slower cooling rates result-
they had precipitated out at low temperature in ac- ing in improved ductility since as well as coarsening the

849 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol, 39 (1999), No. 9

a
a

~;.1:

b b

Fig. 29. SEMoffracture surface for low Al, 0.019~1.Ti steel

380nm tested at 800'C showing refinement in dimple size and

Fig. 28. C-Mn--AI steel with a high Ti : N

,-,
ratio of 6.2: 1
MnS
(a)
(b)
inclusion size on increasing the cooling rate.
cooling rate of'_5Kmin~*.
cooling rate of looKmin~*. X750. Ref. 7),
rractured at 950'C
(a) cooled at 25 Kmin1. Particle size 20nm. R of
A, 55 "/.. of AIN.75) As a result, higher N
Ievels would then favour
(b) cooied at 100Kmin~1Particle size 12.5nm. R precipitation of Ti containing precipitates at higher
of A, 46"/*. Ref. 7).
temperatures.

precipitates,Fig. 28, coarser Inclusions are formed at the

It
was also foLmd in this Nbto a Ti
work that adding
containing steel or raising
the soluble Al level in a
boundaries, Fig. 29. C-Mn-Nb-Ti steel, did not adversely influence the
Increasing the volume fraction of particles precipitated ductility. This was found to be a result of the detrimental
would also be expected to impair ductility and this is influence of a higher precipitate volume fraction being
taken account of by the terms [Al] x [N] and [Ti] x [N]. balanced by the presence of coarser precipitation in
It
appears that in these Tl containing steels, the available accordance with Fig. 26.
N wi]1 first combine with the Ti and any remaining
N It should be noted that in this temperature
range for
will then combine with the A1, both precipitates being the steels examined, ductility was always worse than for
detrimental to ductility. Ti free steels. This poor ductility is due to the Ti

As mentioned eariier, coarse partlcle sizes can be containing precipitates being fine and stable at high
achieved by havlng a high product of T1 and so that N temperatures.
precipitation occurs at high temperatures. A high Ti : N A further point worthy of attention
that higher
is
ratio is also favoured as this will increase the amountof test temperatures lead to coarser as well as reduced
Ti in solution favouring growth. precipitation, Fig. 30, giving rise to better ductility.
For C-Mn-Nb-AIsteels,94) the regression equation is Thus, althou*'h the faster cooling rates used in thin
as follows; slab casting will lead to finer precipitation, the higher
straightening temperature will go somewayto coarsening
R of A = 15.1 + 19 3V;,-0.56[Tl]
o/o
x [N] x 10
the partic]es and restoring ductility.
-O.065CR+2326Ns""' " ' ' '
'(2)
For the lower tensile testing temperature range,
It
can be seen that although the multiplying factors someimprovement in ductility was noted over
are different, generally smaller, the effect of each variable Ti free steels and then only for the Nbcontaining steels.94)
on ductility is the
sameas for the Nb
free steels, except There were two compositions giving improvements a) a
for the influence of N. Here excess N
was found to be steel with 0.0040/0
N and 0.01 o/o Ti and b) a steel with
beneficial, possibly because the Nb
delays precipltation 0.045 o/o Ti and 0.005 o/o N. In the former case the volume

@1999 ISIJ 850

 ISIJ International, Vol. 39 (1999). No. 9
then the opportunity to refine the grain size during
subsequent processing by allowing fine precipitation to
take place. It is interesting to note that the present
industrial practlce for conventional continuous casting
seemsto favour two ranges for the Ti : ratios; either N
a close to stoichiometry, between 2 to 4, although
Turkdogan62) has stated that the favoured ratio is 4, or
ratios well in excess of this 7 to lO.82)
Nevertheless, the hot ductility work clearly indicates
that for steels with O.0050/0 N, the stoichiometric
composition can lead to extremely poor duc;ility for a
Ti containing steel and that any improvement for steels
N
having Ti : ratios in the range 2 to 4 maybe small.
For steels with 0.005"/o N, optimum ductility can be
obtained by having a low Ti level -O.OI "/o Ti to limit the
preclpitate volume fraction or alternatively a high Ti
~~ level, O.04"/. Ti giving
N
a Ti : ratio of I~5 : I to favour
precipitation at higher temperatures and excess Ti to
encourage growth. Although the presence of excess N
b maybe beneficial in Nbcontaining steels, this is not so
,P*
for the simpler C-Mn-Al-Ti steels and Al levels should
be restricted to very low levels in these steels to avoid
*:~,~~~.1,
AlN precipitation.

ttt~~~~
Recommended
Levels for the Ti in High N Steels
Most thin slab casters are fed by electric arc steel and
typical N Ievels would be >0.008 "/*.
In thin slab casting in which direct roiling follows, it

380nm is
even more to achieve both freedom from
difficult

,--1 transverse cracking as well as good plate properties since

there is little opportunity to take any coarse precipitates
Fig. 30. Coarsening ofprecipitation in
a CMn-Nb-TIsteel
at higher test temperatures. The steel, had a Ti : N back into solution. The faster cooling rates relating to
ratio of 3: I and was tested at
the process will also tend to suppress precipitation so
(a) 950'C (Particle size 18nm)
that more of the very detrimental fine strain induced
(b) I 050'C (Particle size 30 nm). Ref. 94). precipitation will occur
on straightening. It has been
shown that slow cooling at 25Kmin~1can lead to a
fraction of precipitation was low and in the latter the significant improvement in ductility whenTi is added,1 l)
product of [Ti] x [N] was high, encouraging precipita-
but faster cooling rates only result in worse ductility.
tion at high temperatures and the Ti : ratio was high,
N N
High Ti : ratios in high N
steels, (7: l), although
the excess Ti favouring growth.
producing a higher volume fraction of precipitation
It
appears from these investigations that Ti would not produce coarser particles and it is this coarsening which
be a good element to add whenthe straightenlng is carried
can result in improved ductility. The majority of
out at hlgh temperatures, 950-1 OOO'C, which would
apply more to the condition for thin slab casting.
laboratory work has been carried out on low steels.
N
However, although the mid-face temperature for thin
However, from the work carried out to date a Ti : N
slab casting can be 950-1 OOO'C,the corners of the slab
ratio in a high N
steel of 4 1, i.e. 0.04"/. Ti. 0.01~/*
: N
should give enhancedductility, as there will be excess Ti
are colder and this is where cracking is often observed in solution the precipitates
to coarsen at high tem-
and there are often also local cold spots.
peratures and all the nitrogen will be removed from
solution.
Recommended
Levels for Ti in LowN Steels It
maybe that lower Ti additions in the range 0.01 to
For where impact behaviour is not im-
strip steei 0.02 '/. Ti to steels with O.OI "/* N
mayalso be satisfactory
portant, a high Ti : N ratlo can be accommodated.For as indicated in the hot ductility curves in Fig. 21, but
plate steel the Tl : Nratio chosen ideally has to give both further work is required to substantiate these findings.
freedom from transverse cracking as well as good Summarising, Ti additions do not generally give rise
properties in the plate. toimproved hot ductility but have been shownto be a
The two are difficult
to achieve because the high degree good addition to add to steels to reduce transverse
of grain refinement required in the plate, which relies on cracking. This apparent disparity between the laboratory
fine particles, is exactly what gives rise to the transverse work and commercia] practice is probably due to the
cracklng problem. Ideally, one requires to have either no absence of thermal cycling in the former. Nevertheless,
precipitation or coarse precipitation during casting and it is believed that the laboratory results can be used to

851 C 1999 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vo]. 39 (1999). No. 9
predict the optimum Ti and N Ievels needed to avoid 'r]ME TOREACH
1050"CFROM
125o'c
transverse cracking.
l 20
Influence of Ti on the Hot Ductility of V Containing
Steels
e
Bo
Recent Chinese workloo) on as-cast tensiles has found ~~ee

that a Ti addition of O.120/0 to a O.060/0 V containing

:~
steel results in very in the temperature
poor ductiiity, do

range 900-1 1OO'C, when compared to the ductility

shownby Tl free C-Mnand CMnNb
steels. Thus Ti
additions to V
containing steels maybe as detrimental
to hot ductility as they are to the Nb
containing steels. *"
COOLINC
RATE('as)
' ," ,"""

However, 0.120/0 Ti is a rather high addition and it is

possible that of TiC in the Fig. 31. Influence of coohng rate on hot ductnity of steels.
precipitation
y may have Ref. ro6).
occurred.

to any conclusion with regards to the origins of the

Influence of S intergranular sulphides could find no gradient in the S
Analysis of works data by Hannerz39) invariably shows grain boundary areas.
that raising the S
Ievel in steels leads to
an increased Whereasfine precipitation of sulphides seems to be
incidence of cracking. Reducing the S
Ievel in as-cast the major cause of intergranular failure during the
steel gives improved ductility and Catreatment has been straightening operation whenthere are no microalloying
found to be particularly beneficial. 13'1 s,93,loi) This is not additions, hot cracking during rolling or forging has been
surprising as intergranular failure is favoured by having found to be very susceptible to the amountof segregated S
sulphides present at the boundaries and wide, deep hot to the boundaries. This is much influenced by the
ductility troughs are common when no microalloying S
composition (Mnand Ievels), and processing conditions
precipitates are present. (temperature and cooling conditions), often but not
However, a considerable amount of work has been always in the sameway as transverse cracking. Spanish
carried out by Koblyanski and co-workers on ultra pure workl08) has shown that it can be theoretically dem-
Fe alloys,102-l04) which would indicate that S seg- onstrated that there Is a critical value of : ratio Mn S
regation to the boundaries weakening the boundaries under which there is a high susceptibility to cracking
was an important cause of transverse cracking. Abik057) during casting (internal rather than transverse cracking)
has shownthat as little as 0.0005 o/o Sadded to pure iron or hot working. The experimental equation they give to
will reduce the hot ductility at temperatures in the range calculate this ratio is Mn/S
= .345
o/o
I S
~ 0.7934. Fromthis
900~00'C whentested at low strain rates. equation the : Mn S
ratio would need to be in excess of
In contrast, other workl0,12,95) has suggested that in 30. 50 and 80 to I S
for Ievels of 0.02, 0.01 and O.005 olo,
HSLAand piain C-Mnsteels, is the precipitation ofit
I
respectively. Thus for a steel with .4 o/o Mn, there would
fine sulphides at the
y grain boundaries which reduces be no danger of cracking during hot rolling with current
ductility, rather than segregation. Generally,
in as-cast S Ievels but for
a steel with O.5 o/o Mn, the Ievel would S
steel,
S
the segregation of is so rapid and concentrations need to be below 0.01 o/o.
so high, that sulphides are able to form on cooling. These Hubert and Standaertl09) have also modelled the
are not always pure MnSbut often FeMnS.l0,105) precipitation kinetics of MnSand account for high
Cooling rate from the melting point to the test temperature hot-shortness on the basis of segregating S
temperature has been shown to have a very important to the boundaries only under non-equilibrium conditions
influence on the size of these sulphides, increasing the characterised by sulphur supersaturation. Thus, hot
rate produces finer particles, Fig. 29. The influence of shortness due to can S be reduced by decreasing the
cooling rate on ductility when segregation alone is reheating temperature and cooling rate before deforma-
important can be seen from the work of Kobayashi.106) tion and by increasing the deformation temperature and
Here it is clear, Fig. 31, that faster cooling rates prevent Mn concentration.
segregation and ductility improves. However, the cooling However, Maehara and Nagamichillo) have shown
rates used in this examination are very high as was the even under normal continuous casting conditions,
straln rate, the exercise being designed to examine hot cooling at 120Kmin ~ I and straining at 4x 10 ~4 s~ 1, Nb
cracking durlng rolling. When moreconventional cooling containing steels are very sensitive to the amount of S
rates are used, l/2 to I Ksec~ l, and slower strain rates in solution which is able to segregate to the boundaries,
then increasing the cooling rate makesthe ductility worse, the greater this is the worse the ductility. They suggest
Fig. 31 This is because segregation has already taken
.
that this is due to S
encouraging voiding to occur at the
place so that precipitation of sulphides can occur. Faster interface between the Nb(CN)situated at the boundaries
coollng then produces a finer distribution of sulphides and the y. To avoid this problem they recommendthat
at the
y boundaries, which are more detrimental, Fig. S Ievels should be below 0.001 o/o They suggest that there
.

29. Vopodivec et al, I 07) has also examinedthe role played is little difference between the poor ductility often noted
by Sin influencing the ductility, and although not coming at high strain rates and that observed at low strain rates

Cc) 1999 ISIJ 852

 ISIJ International. Vol. 39 (1999). No. 9
both being due to S
segregation. However, in the authors to limit the precipitate volume fraction or very high
experience, the amount of
it is
S
in solution either at (Ti : N ratio of d~5 : 1) so that a high Ti level in solution
solidification or when solution treated that subsequently will encourage precipitation at high temperatures and
segregates to the boundaries and then re-precipitates the excess Ti will encourage growth. Whereelectric arc
y
on cooling in the form of fine sulphides which are steel is
N
being used and Ievels are high, the best ductility
responsible for the ducti]ity trough in plain steels. C-Mn be
may associated with a low Ti addition to limit the
Such an explanation would be entire]y in keeping with vo]ume fraction of Ti rich particles that are formed. The
Maehara and Nagamlchi's results. For their high Mn high N Ievel may, by ensuring a high product of
steel only 0.001 */*
Swould go back into solution and [Ti] x [N], encourage precipltation at higher tempera-
therefore, only whenthe SIevel was less than this would tures and hence give coarser particles and better ductility,
there be any improvementIn ducti]ity in accordance with but further work is required to substantiate this. It is
their observations. For lower Mnlevels morewill go into recommendedwhen there is insufficient Ti present to
solution and ductility will start to improve as the SIevel combine with all the available nitrogen, that in C-Mn-
is reduced below this higher value. Al-Ti steels the soluble Al should be kept as low as
Although there is no doubt that reducing SIevel will possible to avoid AlN precipitation.
generally result in improved ductility, there is evidence 7. Whereas the addition of both Nb and A1 are
to indicate that with Nb containing steels too low a S detrimental to the hot ductility of Ti free steels, this is
level, (0.001 "/~ S)
mayalso cause cracking.lll) Thus Ca not so for Ti containing steels. On adding Nb to a Ti
treatment may not always reduce the incidence of steel this arises becausethe deterioration in ductility from
transverse cracking. This maybe because particles are the higher precipitate volume fraction is balanced by the
required for nucleation of Nb(CN)at high temperatures Nb causing the precipitation to occur at higher tem-
so that there is less Nb available for precipitation in a peratures and hence is coarser. Similar reasoning may
fine form during straightening. apply to A1.
Certainly, a large percentage of the Nb is normally 8. Raising the test temperature invariably results in
taken out of solution as the coarse eutectic and this is coarser precipitation and better ductility. The straight-
why the hot ductility of as-cast Nb containing steels is ening temperature should therefore be as high as pos-
often better than after solution treating whenall the Nb sible. This should be
a help with thin slab casting as
is then able to precipitate out in the detrimental fine straightening temperatures will be higher than in con-
form during straightening. 10) ventional continuous casting.
Clearly again whatever is the precise mechanismof 9.
Sshould be generally be kept low but there are
intergranular failure, S
Ievels should be kept as low as concerns that very clean steels maygive cracking prob-
possible. Care should be taken with Catreatment as too lems.
"clean" a steel
maygrve crackmg problems Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Mrs. J. R. Mintz, Dr.
Conclusions R. Abushosha and Mr. A. Cowley for their help in
compiling this review. Thanks are also extended to Dr.
l Whensmall
.
additions ofCu are madeorwith high
D. N. Crowther, British Steel, Swinden Technology
residual Cucontaining steels, ductility deteriorates in an
Centre, for his support and valuable advice.
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