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ABSTRACT: Interstitial free steels were developed commercially in the 1960s by vacuum

degassing process and the past five decades witnessed its growth in its productivity and demand.
IF steels are usually classified as Ti-IF, Nb-IF, and Ti+Nb-IF depending on which stabilizing
element(s) is added to the steels. They scavenge carbon and nitrogen by forming various types of
carbides (TiC), nitrides (TiN), sulphides, carbo-nitrides and carbo-sulphides (Ti4C2S2). This
precipitation phenomena makes the ferrite matrix essentially interstitial free and non-ageing.
These steels are known for its excellent drawability. These steels have superior formability
[normal anisotropy or Lankford parameter (rm) 1.8 and strain hardening exponent (n) 0.22]
because of the absence (very low amount) of interstitial atoms (0.005wt% C and 0.009wt% N) in
the matrix. Absence (or very low amount) of these elements inhibits very low strength in the
steel which is non-desirable in the automotive industry due to its poor impact resistance, low
yield strength, and other mechanical properties.
To improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel, heat treatment processes
were performed. The microstructure and the mechanical properties of 0.005wt% Carbon IF steel
were systematically optimized by a series of heat treatment processes in a Gleeble 3800 thermo
mechanical simulator. Vickers hardness tester was used in determining the hardness value of the
steel prior to heat treatment and post heat treatment. The microstructural analyses were
performed using light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The analyses
confirmed grain refinement in the heat treated steel which showed an increase in strength, and
hardness of the steel. Grain size of the as received steel was calculated to be 115 m and after
grain refinement the grain size decreased to ~40 to 60 m. The hardness value of the steel also
doubled from 89 VHN to 154.8 VHN.

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INTRODUCTION: Interstitial free steels are highly applicable in automobile industry &
various structural applications due to its superior formability for difficult drawn parts as door
inners, door ring & apertures, fenders etc. [1]. The automotive industry aims to reduce the weight
of outer-body car panels while maintaining strength, formability and dent resistance. However,
conventional high strength sheet steels have insufficient formability to meet the drawing
requirements of today's more complex outer-body car panels. In the recent years low and ultralow carbon steels like extra deep drawing aluminum killed, interstitial free, interstitial free high
strength and bake hardening steels are known for their formability and are extensively used for
the auto bodies [2]. Texture is an important parameter of steel sheets as it induces plastic
anisotropy that can be beneficial to drawability of steels [3-5]. The anisotropy is conveniently
measured in terms of rm-value that is the ratio of true width strain to true thickness strain
determined through standard tensile tests. High r m-values correlate well with good deep
drawability [4]. Good drawability also diminishes the edge splitting tendency during holeexpansion tests [6]. Sheet steels for automobile body panels. Such as door panels and fenders,
and unexposed panels, such as floor and dashboard panels require deep drawability,
stretchability, stiffness, dent resistance & corrosion resistance. These property requirements can
be met by interstitial free steel [7]. The IF steel was invented in the late 1960s in Japan. The
interstitial free steel, which has a high r m value and n value, is free from dependence on the
heating rate during annealing, and does not require any special heat treatment for carbon
precipitation. These characteristics allow the IF steel to be easily manufactured on a continuous
hot dip galvanizing line without an overaging zone. With some latest improvements they have
rapidly expanded the scope of application of the IF steel into cold rolled, hot dip galvanized and
electrogalvanized sheet products for automotive use [8, 9]. The IF steel is now a predominant
type of steel for automobile body panels [10].
There are some problems also with the IF steel. The IF steel having very low yield & tensile
strength. Various method was used to increase the strength of the steel.

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EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: A Mn & Al added ultra-low carbon IF steel (0.005wt


% C, 0.009 wt% N, 0.504 wt% Mn, 0.051 wt% Al, 0.045wt% Ti) was used. The as-received
samples were taken from casted ingot and its dimensions were 10 mm in length & 15 mm in dia.
The average grain size of the as received specimen was 115 m. The processing of specimen
prior to hardness testing was the following: the sample was heat treated at 900 and 1000 C,
homogenized for 2 to 3 minutes & then cooled at various cooling rates. Annealing, Normalizing,
water-quenching & cryo-quenching (not in TMS and holding time is also 35 minutes) was done
with heated samples for both the temperatures. Then surface polishing was done by using 1500
grit SiC paper.
For metallographic examination after heat treatment, the samples were mechanically polished
successively using 320, 800, 1200, 1500 & 2000 grit Sic paper. Subsequently, polishing with
colloidal silica and a final etching in 2 % nital solution for 30 to 40 seconds were carried out.
The microstructure was studied by optical microscope (Lieca). Some precipitates were appeared
in microstructure which was later confirmed by SEM.
RESULTS: the difference in as-received and heat treated samples microstructures is presented in
figures. The initial grain size was comparatively very large after heat treated grain size.

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REFERENCES :
(1) S.J Shankar, Materials for automobiles (2011).
(2) K Banerjee, Physical Metallurgy and Drawability of Extra Deep Drawing and Interstitial Free
Steels, Recrystallization, (2012), Prof. Krzysztof Sztwiertnia (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0122-2,
InTech.
(3) W.F Hosford & W.A Backholen (1964). Fundamentals of deformation processing, Syracuse,
Press, New York. P. 259.
(4) W.T Lankford, S.C Snyder & J.A Bauscher (1950). Trans.AS1/I, Vol. 42, P.1197-1232.
(5) K. Yoshicla at. (1974), Deep Drawing Research Group, Proc. 8th Biennial IDDIG Congr.
Gothenburg (1974), P. 258-268.
(6) A.J Klein & E.W Hitchler (1973), Met. Engg. Q, Vol.13, P. 25-27.
(7) N Fukuda & M Shimuzu (1972), J. Jpn. Soc. Technol. Plast. 13, 841.
(8) O Hashimoto, S Satoh & T Tanaka (1981), Testu-to-Hagane. 67(11), 1962.
(9) M Yamada, Y Tokunaga & M Yamamoto (1987), Testu-to-Hagane. 73(8), 1049.
(10) I Atsushi, A Hirohide & U Kohsaku (1995), Nippon steel technical report no. 64.

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Figure (1): shows the microstructure of as received sample. Total ferritic grains have been found.
Grain size is large, which shows it is very ductile.

Figure (2): shows microstructure of normalized sample at 1000C.

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Figure(3): shows microstructure of water quenched sample 1000C.

Figure (4): shows microstructure of the surface of the cryo quenched sample 1000C.

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Figure (5): shows microstructure of the inner surface of the cryo quenched sample 1000C.

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Figure (6): SEM results of cryo quenched sample processed at 1000C for various
magnifications.

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Figure (7) shows SEM results of water quenched sample at 1000C.

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Figure (8) shows SEM results of normalized sample for 1000C.

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HARDNESS RESULT:
as-received
water quenching
cryo quench-surface
furnace cooling
cryo quench-inner
normalizing

89.38
137.67
138.33
150
152.5
154.833

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variation_in_hardness
160
150
140
variation_in_hardness

130
120
110
100
90
80
1

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