Hot ductility and flow stress of AISI 4130 and 52100-type steels
Résumé
The present communication reports the main findings of an investigation that has been conducted in order to examine the ductility of both the AISI 4130 and 52100 steel grades, in a wide range of temperatures, spanning from room temperature up to 1250 °C, deformed in tension at strain rates of approximately 0.005 s−1. The ductility of the investigated alloys has been determined employing two different methodologies. The first one is based on the classical definition of this property, as determined from the reduction in the cross sectional area of the tensile specimen after fracture. The second method, which is proposed in this work, is based on the measurement of the energy under the engineering stress-strain curve and the decomposition of the total deformation energy into the uniform plastic and non-uniform or fracture energy components. Complementary axisymmetric compression tests have also been carried out in the temperature range of 600 °Cto 900 °C, in order to determine the strain related to the onset of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) at temperatures above 800 °C, as well as the strain corresponding to the occurrence of necking at these temperatures. The ductility values determined from both methods are observed to increase from approximately 10–80% when the testing temperature increases from room temperature to 1200 °C. Both measurements are also observed to agree up to temperatures of about 600 °C. Also, it has been determined that above this temperature, the ductility values derived from the energy criterion are somewhat higher than those computed from the reduction in the cross section area of the specimens. It has been shown that the onset of DRX gives rise to an improvement in the ductility of both steels, which is also related to a significant increase in the strain for the beginning of necking. The advantage of the energy criterion, in comparison with that based on the area reduction after fracture, is discussed.