Recent Advances in Low-Density Steels

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystalline Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2022) | Viewed by 5551

Special Issue Editors


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Faculty of natural sciences and engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: metallurgy; metallic materials; steels; thermodynamics; thermal analysis; kinetics; process metallurgy
Institute of Metals and Technology, Lepi pot 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: steelmaking; metallurgy; processing; non-metallic inclusions; steel microstructure; alloys
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Guest Editor
Institute of metals and technology, Lepi pot 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: scanning electron microscopy; electron backscattered diffraction; materials analysis; materials characterisation; metallic materials

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 12, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: metallurgy; steels; aluminium alloys; titanium alloys; phase transformations; kinetics; heat treatment; microstructure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is devoted to recent advances in low-density steels because of their excellent combination of specific strength and ductility. Reducing the density of steels is a novel approach to reduce the weight of engineering structures, thus saving material and energy. The mentioned steels can be divided into three categories: ferritic steels, duplex steels and austenitic steels, depending on their microstructure.

Since low-density Fe-Mn-Al-C steels can produce a variety of microstructures, we encourage researchers to publish their work on microstructure evolution and the influence of different alloying additions on the microstructure of Fe-Mn-Al-C steels. Different alloying additions also affect the solidification interval, which plays an important role in process metallurgy. Especially when we want to incorporate newly developed steels into the industrial process. Another important aspect in the development of steels is heat treatment, which is necessary to achieve a precisely defined microstructure and thus mechanical properties. The mechanical properties are particularly important in engineering materials and are closely related to the microstructure. In more complex alloy systems such as Fe-Mn-Al-C, phase precipitation plays an important role in the final microstructure and mechanical properties.

The main focus of the Special Issue “Recent Advances in Low-Density Steels” is the collection of papers dealing with a wide range of low-density steels and presenting recent advances in this field. In particular, in relation to microstructures and all the associated properties already mentioned.

Dr. Tilen Balaško
Dr. Jaka Burja
Dr. Barbara Šetina Batič
Dr. Aleš Nagode 
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low density steels
  • lightweight steels
  • microstructure
  • solidification
  • heat treatment
  • mechanical properties
  • phase precipitation
  • spinodal decomposition

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 10964 KiB  
Article
Tribological Characteristics of High-Chromium Based Multi-Component White Cast Irons
by Riki Hendra Purba, Kazumichi Shimizu, Kenta Kusumoto, Yila Gaqi and Mohammad Jobayer Huq
Crystals 2022, 12(10), 1488; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12101488 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1582
Abstract
It has been evaluated the relationship between the microstructure and three-body abrasive wear behavior of high-chromium (18 and 27 mass % Cr) based (3 mass % each of V, Mo, W, and Co) multicomponent white cast iron materials (high-Cr MWCIs). It was also [...] Read more.
It has been evaluated the relationship between the microstructure and three-body abrasive wear behavior of high-chromium (18 and 27 mass % Cr) based (3 mass % each of V, Mo, W, and Co) multicomponent white cast iron materials (high-Cr MWCIs). It was also compared to MWCI to determine the service life of the materials. The results indicate that the microstructure of the material is composed of mainly martensite matrix and different types of precipitated carbides. The wear resistances of both the high-Cr MWCIs are higher than MWCI owing to the higher hardness (4–18% increment in hardness), although they contain fewer carbide types. The carbide volume fraction of high-Cr MWCI increases with increase in the Cr content, but the hardness decreases, leading to a reduction in wear resistance. This is because the transition metal significantly consumes C atoms to form more eutectic carbides during solidification, which is exacerbated by the depletion of C in the matrix during heat treatment to form coarser secondary carbides. This means that increasing the addition of Cr does not always lead to an increase in the hardness or wear resistance of the material. In addition, the wear resistance of 27Cr MWCI after tempering (wear rate: 8.80 × 10−5 g/m) is higher than that after quenching (wear rate: 9.25 × 10−5 g/m) owing to the increase in the fracture toughness of M7C3 carbide. This is contrary to the case of 18Cr-MWCI; the wear resistance after tempering (wear rate: 5.29 × 10−5 g/m) is worse than that after quenching (wear rate: 5.11 × 10−5 g/m) owing to the reduction in hardness as a stress-relieving effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Low-Density Steels)
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13 pages, 15086 KiB  
Article
Influence of Austenitisation Time and Temperature on Grain Size and Martensite Start of 51CrV4 Spring Steel
by Anže Bajželj and Jaka Burja
Crystals 2022, 12(10), 1449; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12101449 - 13 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2072
Abstract
51CrV4 spring steel is a martensitic steel grade that is heat treated by quenching and tempering. Therefore, austenitisation is an important step that influences steel properties. The main goal of austenitisation is to obtain a single-phase austenite structure that will transform into martensite. [...] Read more.
51CrV4 spring steel is a martensitic steel grade that is heat treated by quenching and tempering. Therefore, austenitisation is an important step that influences steel properties. The main goal of austenitisation is to obtain a single-phase austenite structure that will transform into martensite. We studied the influence of austenitisation parameters on grain growth and martensite transformation temperatures. The samples were quenched from different austenitisation temperatures (800–1040 °C) and were held for 5, 10 and 30 min. The martensite start transformation temperatures (MS) were determined from dilatometric curves, and the hardness was measured using the Vickers method. The microstructure of the samples and the size of the prior austenite grains were characterised using optical microscopy. The increase in the size of the prior austenite crystal grains increases the MS temperature. However, this trend is visible up to 960 °C, where the results start to deviate. High temperatures, 960 °C and above, cause both grain growth and increased carbide dissolution along with chemical homogenization of the steel. The added influence of strong solute diffusion caused a big deviation in the results. The stability of carbides during austenitisation were evaluated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermodynamic calculations of equilibrium phases using the Thermo-Calc program. MC-type vanadium carbides are stable up to 956 °C under equilibrium conditions, but the SEM results show that they were present in the microstructure even after annealing at 1040 °C. This means that crystal growth is slowed down, which is positive, and that the austenite contains less carbon, so the hardness is lower. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Low-Density Steels)
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10 pages, 5330 KiB  
Article
High-Temperature Oxidation Behaviour of Duplex Fe-Mn-Al-Ni-C Lightweight Steel
by Tilen Balaško, Barbara Šetina Batič, Jožef Medved and Jaka Burja
Crystals 2022, 12(7), 957; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12070957 - 08 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1193
Abstract
Lightweight Fe-Mn-Al-Ni-C steels are an attractive material, due to the combination of low density, high elongation, and yield strength. However, the high Al content is also interesting from the point of view of high-temperature resistance. High-temperature resistance is important for high-temperature applications and [...] Read more.
Lightweight Fe-Mn-Al-Ni-C steels are an attractive material, due to the combination of low density, high elongation, and yield strength. However, the high Al content is also interesting from the point of view of high-temperature resistance. High-temperature resistance is important for high-temperature applications and oxidation during heat treatment. Oxidation tests at 700, 800 and 900 °C were carried out to investigate the oxidation rates. Oxidation at 700 °C resulted in slight decarburisation, which was reflected in a slight weight loss in the thermogravimetric analysis. In contrast, the weight in the thermogravimetric analysis increased at 800 and 900 °C and the kinetics followed a parabolic law. The higher the temperature, the more weight is gained and the thicker the oxide layer becomes. The oxidation layer at 800 and 900 °C consisted mainly of hematite and magnetite, with minor amounts of wüstite, alumina and hercynite. Preferential oxidation of austenite was also observed, as it has an increased Mn content. In addition, ferrite had an increased content of Al and Ni, which provide additional oxidation resistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Low-Density Steels)
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