The ultrafine grained ferritic steels possess shortage of work hardening. Fine grained high strength but low ductility due to the ferrite-martensite dual phase microstruc- ture was obtained in a microalloyed steel and low carbon steels through intercritical annealing of the cold rolled martensite. The dual phase microstructure was uniform and the ferrite grain size was smaller in the microalloyed steel resulted from the pin- ning effect of microalloyed precipitates. But ferrite grown apparently and the volume fraction of the martensite was much higher without the addition of microalloying el- ements. By introducing martensite into the fine grained ferrite, the work hardening was effectively improved, leading to better mechanical stability. As a result of the fine ferrite grain size as well as uniform distribution of the martensite, the work harden- ing was enhanced, showing better strength-ductility balance in the microalloyed dual phase steel.
Variable gauge rolling （VGR） is a new technology for producing the materials which have the advantage of lightweight due to optimized thickness according to load distribution. The new progresses in the theoretical research and application of VGR are reviewed in this paper. Two basic equations, VGR-f and VGR-s, were deduced. The former is a new differential equation of force equilibrium, and the latter is a new form of formula for the law of mass conservation. Both of them provide a new base for the development of VGR analysis. As the examples of VGR＇s application, tailor rolled blank （TRB） and longitudinal profile （LP） plate are introduced. Now TRBs are only produced in Germany and China, and have been used in the automotive manufacturing to play an important role in lightweight design. LP plates have been used in shipbuilding and bridge construction, and promised a bright prospect in reducing construction weight. In addition, new technologies and applications of VGR emerge constantly. Tailor welded strips and tailor rolled strips with variable thickness across the width can be used for progressive die and roll forming. The 3D profiled blank can be obtained by two-step rolling process. Tailor tubes witli the variable wail thickness are an efficient way to reduce the weight. The blank with tailored thickness and mechanical property is also under development. Above products based on the tailored ideas provide a new materials-warehouse for the designers to select so as to meet the needs of weight reducing and material saving.
The hot deformation behavior of a Mn-Cu-V weathering steel was investigated at temperatures ranging from 850 to 1050℃ and strain rates ranging from 0.01 to 5 s-1 using MMS-300 thermal-mechanical simulator. The activation energy for dynamic recrystallization and stress exponent were calculated to be 551 kJ/mol and 7.73, respectively. The accurate values of critical strain were determined by the relationship between work hardening rate and flow stress （θ-σ） curves. The hyperbolic sine constitutive equation was employed to describe the relationship between the peak stress and Zener-Hollomon parameter during hot deformation. The interaction between dynamic recrystallization and dynamic precipitation of V（C,N） at a low strain rate was analyzed. The results showed that precipitation particles size of weathering steel increased with increasing strain at deformation temperature g50~C and strain rate 0.1 s-I. The calculation results of the recrystallization driving force and pinning force showed that dynamic precipitation could retard the progress of dynamic recrystallization but not prevent it while the pinning forces is less than driving force. On the contrary, dynamic precipitation can effectively prevent the progress of dynamic recrystallization.
