The Deformation Behavior of a

Vanadium-Strengthened Dual Phase Steel

R. G. DAVIES
A study has b e e n made of the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of dual phase ( m a r t e n s i t e plus f e r rite) s t r u c t u r e s produced when a V c o n t a i n i n g HSLA s t e e l is cooled in a c o n t r o l l e d m a n n e r
f r o m e i t h e r the a u s t e n i t e or a u s t e n i t e plus f e r r i t e phase fields. Such a heat t r e a t m e n t r e s u l t s in the p e a r l i t e r e g i o n s and c a r b i d e p a r t i c l e s of the s t a n d a r d V s t e e l being r e p l a c e d
by m a r t e n s i t e ; this leads to a d e c r e a s e in the yield s t r e s s and a n i n c r e a s e in ductility
while the t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h is e s s e n t i a l l y unchanged. The fatigue of dual phase s t e e l s is
slightly s u p e r i o r in the high s t r a i n life (ductility controlled) r e g i o n and slightly i n f e r i o r
in the low s t r a i n life (yield dominated) r e g i o n when c o m p a r e d to s t a n d a r d V s t e e l . The
r e p l a c e m e n t of the p e a r l i t e and c e m e n t i t e p a r t i c l e s which can n u c l e a t e c r a c k s , by m o r e
d u c t i l e m a r t e n s i t e i s l a n d s r e s u l t s in i m p r o v e d Charpy impact p r o p e r t i e s . The s t r e n g t h
and the ductility of the dual p h a s e m a t e r i a l s is shown to be in a g r e e m e n t with a theory of
c o m p o s i t e s with two ductile p h a s e s . T h i s theory then allows one to u n d e r s t a n d the r e l a tive i m p o r t a n c e of v a r i o u s m i c r o s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e s in c o n t r o l l i n g s t r e n g t h and ductility.
In this way it is found that the key to the s u p e r i o r elongation (at a constant t e n s i l e
s t r e n g t h ) is l a r g e l y due to the high s t r e n g t h (fine g r a i n e d ) , highly ductile f e r r i t e m a t r i x .
S T E E L S whose s t r u c t u r e c o n s i s t s of a m i x t u r e of f e r r i t e and m a r t e n s i t e a r e c o m m o n l y r e f e r r e d to as dual
phase s t e e l s . Although such m a t e r i a l s have been
studied for at l e a s t 10 y e a r s 1-3 it is only in the last
two y e a r s that they have b e c o m e of t e c h n o l o g i c a l int e r e s t . It has been shown 4-6 that at a given t e n s i l e
s t r e n g t h level, dual phase s t e e l s have s u p e r i o r f o r m a bility to s t a n d a r d high s t r e n g t h low alloy (HSLA)
s t e e l s . Rashid S found that dual phase VAN-80 (VAN-80
b e i n g a J o n e s & Laughlin Steel Co HSLA steel) had a
lower yield s t r e n g t h , g r e a t e r elongation to f r a c t u r e , a
higher work h a r d e n i n g r a t e and yet the s a m e u l t i m a t e
t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h as s t a n d a r d VAN-80 steel.
To obtain the dual phase s t r u c t u r e s both R a s h i d ~ and
A r a k i e t a l 6 a n n e a l e d at t e m p e r a t u r e s in the two phase
ot + V r e g i o n and then e i t h e r a i r cooled o r w a t e r
quenched the s t e e l depending upon its h a r d e n a b i l i t y ;
s t r u c t u r e s produced by this t r e a t m e n t will be r e f e r r e d
to as IDP ( i n t e r c r i t i c a l dual phase). Bucher and H a m b u r g 7 have shown that it is p o s s i b l e to obtain the dual
phase s t r u c t u r e in VAN-80 by c o n t r o l l e d cooling f r o m
t e m p e r a t u r e s in the a u s t e n i t e region; s t r u c t u r e s p r o duced b y this t r e a t m e n t will be r e f e r r e d to as ADP
( a u s t e n i t e dual phase).
The a i m of the p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n was to gain an
u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the f a c t o r s which c o n t r o l the m e c h a n i cal r e s p o n s e of dual phase s t e e l s . To do this the tensile, fatigue and impact p r o p e r t i e s have b e e n studied
for s t e e l s which have b e e n s u b j e c t to a v a r i e t y of t h e r m a l t r e a t m e n t s . Since VAN-80 is e a s i l y heat t r e a t e d
to produce the dual phase s t r u c t u r e and is c o m m e r cially a v a i l a b l e , this alloy was used for the m a j o r p o r tion of the study and will be r e f e r r e d to as V steel.
EXPERIMENTAL

with the t h i c k n e s s of the s h e e t s and the m e c h a n i c a l

t e s t s p e r f o r m e d . T e n s i l e s p e c i m e n s 50 m m (2 in.)
gage length by 12.5 m m (1/2 in.) wide were m a c h i n e d
p r i o r to heat t r e a t m e n t s and w e r e t e s t e d in an I n s t r o n
m a c h i n e at r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e at a c r o s s h e a d rate of
a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 10 -2 m m / s (0.05 i n . / m i n ) . Impact
t e s t s a m p l e s were s t a n d a r d Charpy s i z e except for
t h e i r t h i c k n e s s (~6 mm); the length of the s p e c i m e n s
was made p a r a l l e l to the r o l l i n g d i r e c t i o n and the
notch was made p e r p e n d i c u l a r to the s u r f a c e of the
sheet. S t a n d a r d hour g l a s s shaped s p e c i m e n s 8 with a
2.5 m m gage length were used for the fatigue study.
All heat t r e a t m e n t s were c a r r i e d out in a high t e m p e r a t u r e n e u t r a l s a l t pot. F o r the i n t e r c r i t i e a l IDP
t r e a t m e n t s a m p l e s were held for 10 m i n at the r e q u i r e d t e m p e r a t u r e while for the fully a u s t e n i t i z e d
ADP t r e a t m e n t 5 m i n was sufficient. The a n n e a l i n g
t e m p e r a t u r e s chosen a r e shown in Fig. 1, together
with the e q u i l i b r i u m c o m p o s i t i o n s for the a and ~,
p h a s e s e x i s t i n g at these t e m p e r a t u r e s ; this e q u i l i b r i u m
d i a g r a m was d e r i v e d f r o m the data p r e s e n t e d by Bain
and Paxton 9 and is applicable for alloys c o n t a i n i n g 1
to 2 wt pet Mn. S p e c i m e n s were e i t h e r a i r cooled
(still or forced air) or b r i n e quenched as r e q u i r e d .
U n l e s s noted o t h e r w i s e the IDP t r e a t m e n t was 10 rain
at 790~ and the ADP t r e a t m e n t was 5 m i n at 870~
both followed by a i r cooling. Most s p e c i m e n s used for
the m e t a l l o g r a p h i c e x a m i n a t i o n were t e m p e r e d at
400~ for 30 rain to produce a d a r k e n e d m a r t e n s i t e
when etched in a n i t a l - p i c r a l solution.

RESULTS
A. M e t a l l o g r a p h y

PROCEDURE

The c o m p o s i t i o n s of the v a r i o u s heats of the V s t e e l

s h e e t s used in this study a r e p r e s e n t e d in T a b l e I along
R. G. DAVIESis Staff Scientist with the MetallurgyDepartment,
Engineeringand Research Staff, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI
48121.
Manuscript submitted April 25, 1977.
METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

The s t r u c t u r e of the s t a n d a r d V s t e e l is, as shown

in Fig. 2, a m i x t u r e of f e r r i t e and u n r e s o l v e d p e a r lite. Rashid ~,1~ noted that in addition to the p e a r l i t e ,
t h e r e were many c e m e n t i t e p a r t i c l e s s i t u a t e d m a i n l y
at g r a i n b o u n d a r i e s , and a fine d i s t r i b u t i o n of v a n a d i u m
c a r b o n i t r i d e s within the f e r r i t e g r a i n s . Both the IDP
and ADP t r e a t m e n t s produce the dual phase, f e r r i t e

ISSN0360-2133/78/0110-0041$00.75/0
9 1978AMERICANSOCIETYFOR METALSAND
THEMETALLURGICALSOCIETYOF AIME

VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978-41

Table I. Compositions (Wt Pct) of the V Steels, Balance Fe

Mn

0.15
0.15
0.14

1.50
1.46
1.23

Si

0,015 0.36
0.014 0,50
0.015 0.34

Al

Thickness,
mm (in.)

Use

0.12 0.075 0.019 1.65(0.066) Tensile

0.11 0.029 0.018 2.45(0.102) Fatigue
0.10 0.015 0.024 6.25(0.250) Impact

~'qt.,2"
ql[

Fe-lw/o
u
900
@

j
,

"

dg-~

"
.',.

Mn-C

VAN - 80

LU
n,"
I---

BO%F
I-

.I

.5

.4

,5

,6

.7

.B

.9

LO

WT. =/= C A R B O N

Fig. 1--The derived equilibrium diagram for Fe i wt pct MnC alloys; the annealing temperatures and the terminal compositions for the IDP samples are also indicated.

plus m a r t e n s i t e s t r u c t u r e s shown in Fig. 3.* A f t e r

*Although the suggestion has been made 7 that the structure which is called
martensite may in fact be a mixture of martensite and bainite, in this papei it will
be referred to as martensite.

these t r e a t m e n t s the vast m a j o r i t y of v a n a d i u m c a r b o n i t r i d e s have r e d i s s o l v e d ~ and the c e m e n t i t e and

p e a r l i t e have been r e p l a c e d by i s l a n d s of martensite.10
A i r cooling f r o m t e m p e r a t u r e s in the r a n g e 730 to
816~ produced the s t r u c t u r e s shown in Fig. 4; it can
be s e e n that the m a r t e n s i t e content is a p p r o x i m a t e l y
constant at 15 to 20 pct in a l l of the s a m p l e s , w h e r e a s
quenching f r o m these s a m e t e m p e r a t u r e s r e s u l t s in
s t r u c t u r e s c o n s i s t i n g of f r o m 20 to 60 pct m a r t e n s i t e
as shown in Fig. 5. The a p p r o x i m a t e c o n s t a n t s t r u c t u r e obtained by a i r cooling is the r e s u l t of a f o r t u n a t e
set of c i r c u m s t a n c e s ; at low a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s ,
when the p r o p o r t i o n of a u s t e n i t e f o r m e d is at a m i n i mum, the a u s t e n i t e will have the highest c a r b o n content and thus high h a r d e n a b i l i t y ; at high a n n e a l i n g
t e m p e r a t u r e s the l a r g e r f r a c t i o n of a u s t e n i t e will cont a i n less c a r b o n and have a lower h a r d e n a b i l i t y . Upon
a i r cooling most of the a u s t e n i t e f o r m e d at the lower
a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s t r a n s f o r m s to m a r t e n s i t e ,
while at the higher a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s much of
the a u s t e n i t e t r a n s f o r m s to f e r r i t e and only a r e s i d u a l
a m o u n t f o r m s m a r t e n s i t e . C o i n c i d e n t a l l y the a m o u n t
of m a r t e n s i t e is a p p r o x i m a t e l y the s a m e , independent
of a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e .

B. Flow S t r e s s
S t r e s s - s t r a i n c u r v e s for v a r i o u s heat t r e a t m e n t s
a r e shown in Fig. 6; the m a j o r points to note a r e the
lower i n i t i a l flow s t r e s s and i n c r e a s e d elongation of
4 2 - V O L U M E 9A, J A N U A R Y 1978

Fig. 2--The microstructure of the as-received V steel consists of dark pearlite regions in a fine-grained ferrite matrix.
the a i r cooled s p e c i m e n s as c o m p a r e d to the a s - r e ceived state of the V steel. The p r o p e r t i e s , s p e c i a l l y
the 0.2 pct yield s t r e s s , were s e n s i t i v e to the cooling
r a t e f r o m the a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e ; the b e s t c o m b i n a tion of t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h and total e l o n g a t i o n was obtained by cooling the IDP s a m p l e s at 17 to 20~
and
the ADP s p e c i m e n s at 45 to 50~
T h e s e cooling
r a t e s for the c o m p o s i t i o n s of the a u s t e n i t e t r a n s f o r m ing a r e sufficient to m i n i m i z e p e a r l i t e f o r m a t i o n . 11'12
The flow s t r e s s as a function of a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a ture f r o m 700 to 817~ is p r e s e n t e d in Fig. 7; the
eutectoid t e m p e r a t u r e is g r e a t e r than 700~ for this alloy. Since the p r o p e r t i e s a f t e r a i r cooling and q u e n c h ing f r o m 700~ a r e i d e n t i c a l to those of the a s - r e ceived m a t e r i a l , any i n t e r n a l s t r e s s e s i n t r o d u c e d by
the a c t i o n of a i r cooling or quenching a r e not c o n t r i b u t ing to the p r o p e r t i e s of the dual phase s p e c i m e n s . In
addition Fig. 7 shows that the flow s t r e s s e s for the a i r
cooled s a m p l e s a r e e s s e n t i a l l y independent, while
a f t e r b r i n e quenching they a r e s t r o n g l y dependent upon
the a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e . T h e s e r e s u l t s , in c o n j u n c tion with the m i c r o g r a p h s of F i g s . 4 and 5, indicate
that the flow s t r e s s is a function of the a m o u n t of m a r t e n s i t e p r e s e n t in the s t r u c t u r e .
T o t a l elongation (which is used as a m e a s u r e of the
m a t e r i a l ' s ductility) as a function of t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h
is shown in Fig. 8 for the V s t e e l in the t h r e e heat.
t r e a t e d conditions and also for s t a n d a r d HSLA s t e e l s ;
for the sake of c l a r i t y the data points have b e e n o m i t t e d
f r o m the HSLA c u r v e . T h i s data shows that at a given
t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h level dual phase s t r u c t u r e s a r e m o r e
ductile than s t a n d a r d HSLA s t e e l s . However, if total
e l o n g a t i o n is plotted a g a i n s t the 0.2 pct yield s t r e s s
then, as shown in Fig. 9, at u given s t r e s s l e v e l the
dual phase s t e e l s a r e not as ductile as the s t a n d a r d
METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

HSLA s t e e l s . T h e s e r e s u l t s hold t r u e whether u n i f o r m

o r total elongation a r e plotted a g a i n s t the flow s t r e s s .
The r e a s o n for this d i f f e r e n c e in r a n k i n g with the v a r i ous flow s t r e s s e s will be fully d i s c u s s e d in a l a t e r
section.

A s e r i e s of IDP s a m p l e s (air cooled f r o m 790~

were p r e s t r a i n e d up to 15 pct at r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e
and t e m p e r e d for 1 h at t e m p e r a t u r e s up to 400~
s p e c i m e n s that had b e e n quenched f r o m 790~ were
given a s i m i l a r t e m p e r i n g t r e a t m e n t . A f t e r t e m p e r ing at 100 and 200~ the s u b s e q u e n t s t r e s s - s t r a i n
c u r v e was smooth while t e m p e r i n g at 300~ and above
r e s u l t e d in a definite yield plateau, F i g . 10. T h i s
figure also shows that t h e r e is an i n c r e a s e in the flow
s t r e s s with i n c r e a s e in t e m p e r i n g t e m p e r a t u r e . In Fig.
11 this change in flow s t r e s s is given as a function of
t e m p e r a t u r e and p r e s t r a i n ; for a l l the m a t e r i a l conditions t h e r e is a peak in the flow s t r e s s it]crease at
about 300~
It can also be s e e n that the magnitude of
the change is e s s e n t i a l l y independent of p r i o r s t r a i n ;
this is c o n s i s t e n t with the work of Rashid S who p r e s t r a i n e d and t e m p e r e d at 208~ (400~ for 1 h.
C. F a t i g u e
The i n i t i a l cyclic s t r e s s - s t r a i n c u r v e s for the dual
phase 13 and s t a n d a r d V s t e e l s , 14 Fig. 12 show that the
dual phase s t r u c t u r e s can s t r a m h a r d e n v e r y r a p i d l y .
F o r e x a m p l e , the IDP s p e c i m e n at a s t r a i n of 0.005
has a t e n s i l e flow s t r e s s of 470 M P a (68,000 psi) on
the f i r s t cycle, which i n c r e a s e s to 540 M P a (78,000
psi) on the c o m p r e s s i v e s t r o k e and to 520 MPa (75,000
psi) on the second t e n s i l e cycle. In c o n t r a s t t h e r e is
no change in the t e n s i l e flow s t r e s s for the s t a n d a r d
m a t e r i a l . The cyclic and static s t r e s s - s t r a i n c u r v e s
for these t h r e e s e t s of s p e c i m e n s a r e p r e s e n t e d in
Fig. 13. It can be s e e n that the cyclic c u r v e s a r e conv e r g i n g m o r e r a p i d l y with i n c r e a s i n g s t r a i n than the
s t a t i c c u r v e s ; this is a n a t u r a l c o n s e q u e n c e of the high
r a t e of cyclic h a r d e n i n g in the dual phase m a t e r i a l s .
S t r a i n - l i f e fatigue c u r v e s , F i g . 14, show that at high
s t r a i n s the dual phase condition is b e t t e r than the
s t a n d a r d condition. T h i s is to be expected s i n c e the
high s t r a i n fatigue life is c o n t r o l l e d by the ductility of
the m a t e r i a l is and as shown in Fig. 6, dual phase
s t r u c t u r e s have the highest ductility. In the low s t r a i n
fatigue life r e g i o n which is c o n t r o l l e d by the yield
s t r e s s of the m a t e r i a l , Is the s t a n d a r d condition has, as
would be expected, b e t t e r fatigue life than the dual
phase m a t e r i a l s . The d i f f e r e n c e between ADP and IDP
is negligible.
D. Impact R e s i s t a n c e

Fig. 3--The microstructure after (a) IDP and (b) ADP treatments consists of 15 to 20 pet darkened martensite in a fer~'ite matrix.
METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

The i m p a c t e n e r g y as a function of t e m p e r a t u r e is
shown in Fig. 15 for both the dual phase and the s t a n d a r d m a t e r i a l s . It can be s e e n that by this p a r t i c u l a r
t e s t the dual phase s t e e l s a r e tougher than the s t a n d a r d V s t e e l u s i n g e i t h e r shelf e n e r g y o r the t e m p e r a ture of the half shelf e n e r g y (indicated by a r r o w s in
Fig. 15) as a toughness m e a s u r e m e n t .
A few s a m p l e s of each condition were a n n e a l e d at
300~ for 1 h ( m a x i m u m in the t e m p e r i n g curve, Fig.
11) to check whether such t e m p e r i n g would affect the
t o u g h n e s s . The r e s u l t s , given by the filled s y m b o l s
in Fig. 15, show that such t e m p e r i n g has no d i s c e r n i ble affect on the i m p a c t r e s i s t a n c e .
Scanning e l e c t r o n m i c r o g r a p h s of s p e c i m e n s f r a c t u r e d at - 4 3 ~ a r e shown in F i g . 16. The ADP s p e c i m e n s f r a c t u r e in a fully ductile m a n n e r while the a s r e c e i v e d s a m p l e s , as r e v e a l e d by well defined facets,
VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978-43

..

_ ...:,,~,;~....

'F

~,t

'

-.

"-

12,,-/4'

" s

.~ =2, ~ "
.

t',,

.,.~

9' ~

"2

'"

."
.

I~

" ^

%.....

" : ' ~ , ,~'

.

~ .~

"~

,- -",~,~ , ,
" '

,ib.

~l".i,,.,~

A -

~--

~:"

'?:i

-~'~.,

Fig. 4--A series of rnicrographs showing that, after air cooling from various temperatures in the c~ + y region, the percentage
of martensite in the structure is essentially constant; (a) 730~
(b) 760~
(c) 790~ and (d) 816~

44-VOLUME

9A, JANUARY

1978

METALLURGICAL

TRANSACTIONS

Fig. 5--After b r i n e quenching from (a) 730~ (b) 760~ (c) 790~ and (d) 816~ it can be seen that the p e r c e n t a g e of m a r t e n site i n c r e a s e s with i n c r e a s i n g quenching t e m p e r a t u r e in accord with the equilibrium d i a g r a m .

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978-45

1400

200
I/

1200
i

I000

quenched
815"C

ip,r cooled 870 *C

800

I00

600

air c o o l e d

fail by cleavage. The IDP s p e c i m e n s a p p e a r also to

cleave but the facets and r i v e r m a r k i n g s a r e not so
well defined and some ductile f r a c t u r e m a r k s a r e obs e r v e d . Thus it is c l e a r that the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the
m a r t e n s i t e can have an affect on the f r a c t u r e mode,
and that i s l a n d s of m a r t e n s i t e a r e p r e f e r a b l e to p e a r ~
lite in t h e s e s t e e l s .

*C"

787

400

DISCUSSION

200

A. S t r e n g t h

~ - - 5 %-"t

STRAIN
Fig. 6--Stress-strain curves for V steel after various therm a l t r e a t m e n t s ; t h e m a i n f e a t u r e s to n o t e a r e the d e c r e a s e d
y i e l d s t r e s s and i n c r e a s e d e l o n g a t i o n of t h e a . c . 870~ (ADP)
and a . c . 787~ (IDP) t r e a t e d s a m p l e s a s c o m p a r e d to t h e a s received sample,

F r o m the v a r i a t i o n in flow s t r e s s with q u e n c h i n g

t e m p e r a t u r e and the s t r u c t u r a l changes produced by
the d i f f e r e n t t r e a t m e n t s it is concluded that the
s t r e n g t h of these dual phase alloys is a function of the

ksi

I00

5O
i

40
1400

,,S," "

::
o
o..

200

bJ
Q.

d
Or) nooo

150
I

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o
o

0---~

50

steels--present

work
0 HSLA s t e e l s - - R a s h i d
o a i r c o o l e d Van 50
9 IDP-air c o o l e d
9 l O P - w a t e r quenched

z~

I-

20

v
Z

0
_1
laJ
_1
I0
I-

I00

0
" 600
LI.

/ o72.,,o.,e,

400

_...___%__.L.g.

S-

U
I

700

740

780

F i g . 7 - - F l o w s t r e s s a s a f u n c t i o n of a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e
f o r both a i r c o o l e d a n d b r i n e q u e n c h e d s a m p l e s ; n o t e t h e a p p r o x i m a t e l y c o n s t a n t 0.2 p c t flow s t r e s s e s f o r all a i r cooled
specimens.

I00

KSI

200

0 intercriticolly

30

, %
i . . . . . . . . .

' '

\
&. \

\\o

,~

i
It

I
200

I
400

FLOW

l
600

UUnui

I
800

I
I000

STRESS(~ = 0 O02),MPo

F i g . 9 - - T o t a l e l o n g a t i o n a s a f u n c t i o n of 0,2 p e t flow s t r e s s
f o r b o t h s t a n d a r d and d u a l p h a s e HSLA s t e e l s ; o p e n s y m b o l s
i n d i c a t e s t e e l s w i t h y i e l d p o i n t and L u d e r s e x t e n s i o n and
filled s y m b o l s i n d i c a t e s m o o t h l y y i e l d i n g s t e e l s . T h e a r r o w s
f r o m t h e open to full s y m b o l s i n d i c a t e t h e c h a n g e s in flow
s t r e s s upon e l i m i n a t i o n of t h e y i e l d p o i n t s by e i t h e r a n u m e r i c a l t e c h n i q u e ( d i a m o n d s y m b o l s ) o r p r e s t r a i n by r o l l i n g
(filled wide).

annealed

-air icool'

+IO0"C 4200"C

-brine quench

Z~ air c o o l e d - 8 7 0

I0

V intercriticofly annealed

"~

o~

820

ANNEALING TEMPERATURE, "C

"J

0m

800

,,,

I,d

IZ
I.d

1200

air c o o l e d

*C

temper

temper

+ 300"C
temper

Azx \o

2O

,,~

/,,, \ \
~

HSLA

n*

\~.

o ,of STEE,s
I

600

800

I000

1200

1400

ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH,MPo

F i g . 8 - - T o t a l e l o n g a t i o n a s a f u n c t i o n of t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h f o r
b o t h s t a n d a r d and d u a l p h a s e h i g h s t r e n g t h s t e e l s .
4 6 - V O L U M E 9A, JANUARY 1978

STRAIN
Fig. 10--Stress-strain curves for tempered IDP samples
s h o w i n g a b s e n c e of L u d e r s e x t e n s i o n until 300~ t e m p e r .
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

percentage of m a r t e n s i t e in the s t r u c t u r e . F i g u r e 17,

which shows the p r e s e n t r e s u l t s together with data of
Koo and Thomas 16 and T a m u r a e t a l s for plain carbon
s t e e l s , suggests that the strength of dual phase alloys
a r i s e s as a mechanical mixture of soft f e r r i t e and
s t r o n g m a r t e n s i t e . The flow s t r e s s of the f e r r i t e (obtained by e x t r a p o l a t i n g to 0 pct m a r t e n s i t e ) of about
70 MPa (10,000 psi) is in good a g r e e m e n t with values
for i n t e r s t i t i a l f r e e f e r r i t e s . 17,18 The strength of the
m a r t e n s i t e (also obtained by extrapolation) of a p p r o x i mately 18,000 MPa (260,000 psi) is that expected for
a 0.3 to 0.4 wt pct carbon m a r t e n s i t e , z7 This strength
r e l a t i o n s h i p may be somewhat fortuitious since the
carbon content of the m a r t e n s i t e s should, as indicated
by the equilibrium d i a g r a m , v a r y f r o m 0.23 to 0.60 wt
pct C; in this composition range the flow s t r e s s
changes r a p i d l y with carbon content. ~9

800

CURVESCyclic

O'-E

!,c

:~600

~:

400

Ih

t6o~

"

Z,~' ADP
200

t-IlO0

3,3' IDP
I

0 0.002

120

0,006
STRAIN

0.010

F i g . 1 3 - - C y c l i c and s t a t i c s t r e s s - s t r a i n c u r v e s f o r V s t e e l in
t h e a s - r e c e i v e d , ]I)P and A D P c o n d i t i o n s .

Q_
air cooled
prestrained,%

03
0,)
"' 20

~176

I--

o
A

I0
a
,s
/
9 quenched//
/

-JO
"

&

,o

o~,

/
/

/-'$\

20

o./"/- o\\ \
x,,

,.

STRAIN-LIFE CURVES

eo

",,

0.I

30

uJ

,o

I0

0.01

I.._I

~ ,ec,i,ed "'-\~,,o.y.,~....,..~o~
,o.

-- ~--

w
n~
u

o ADP

Z
0

I00

200

300

0.001

400

TEMPERING TEMPERATURE ,~

lID

Fig. if--Influence of tempering temperature on the 0.2 pet

flow s t r e s s for IDP p r e s t r a i n e d s a m p l e s and f o r s a m p l e s
b r i n e q u e n c h e d f r o m 730~

I0

102 103 104

105. I06 107
REVERSALS TO FA1LURE,2N,

Fig. 14--Strain-life fatigue curves for V steel in the a s - r e ceived, ID!~ and ADP conditions.

0 as

,J

As

200 I

received

,,IoP

50

D ADP

o
;

(.9
r162
W

15o

O0

UA
i- IOO
u

-o

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

50

"

50

-200
Fig. 12--Initial cyclic s t r e s s - s t r a i n curves for V steel in the
as-received, IDP and ADP conditions.

F-:

g~

a.
:E
-

~
,_1

-I00
0
TEMPERATURE, "C

I00

Fig. 15--Charpy impact energy as a function of temperature

for as-received, IDP and ADIa conditions of V steel; filled
symbols are for samples tempered i h at 300~

VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1 9 7 8 - 4 7

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 16--Scanning e l e c t r o n rnierographs of V steel f r a c t u r e d at -43~
ture and (c) IDP-mixed ductile and cleavage.

48 VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978

(a) a s - r e c e i v e d - c l e a v a g e facets, (b) ADP-duetile f r a c -

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONSA

The flow s t r e s s data s u g g e s t s that the f e r r i t e in dual

phase s t e e l s is e s s e n t i a l l y i n t e r s t i t i a l free; f u r t h e r
s u p p o r t for this idea is provided by the t e m p e r i n g
r e s p o n s e of this dual phase V s t e e l (Fig. 10). If p l a i n
c a r b o n s t e e l s a r e t e m p e r e d for 1 h at 100~ they exhibit l a r g e yield point elongations on s u b s e q u e n t s t r a i n ing. 2~ It is known that 0.03 pct V in solution is able
to make a p l a i n c a r b o n s t e e l n o n s t r a i n a g i n g 9 ,es and
that v a n a d i u m in solution r e d u c e s the s o l u b i l i t y of int e r s t i t i a l s in f e r r i t e . 24 Since t h e r e is i n s u f f i c i e n t t i m e
d u r i n g cooling for the diffusion of v a n a d i u m a t o m s to
f o r m v a n a d i u m c a r b i d e s , it is p o s s i b l e that the c a r b o n
is t r a p p e d or c l u s t e r e d a r o u n d v a n a d i u m r i c h r e g i o n s
which a r e left when the c a r b o n i t r i d e s a r e d i s s o l v e d
(10 m i n at 800~
In o r d e r to e l i m i n a t e the v a n a d i u m
c o n c e n t r a t i o n s , a n n e a l i n g t r e a t m e n t s of 2 h at 1050~
a r e n o r m a l l y r e q u i r e d . 24
The a p p e a r a n c e of the yield point a f t e r t e m p e r i n g
at 300~ could be due to the diffusion of c a r b o n f r o m
the c a r b o n r i c h m a r t e n s i t i c a r e a s into the r e s t of the
f e r r i t e . The diffusion of c a r b o n in f e r r i t i c i r o n is
given by 2s
D = 3.94 x 10 -~ e x p ( - 1 9 , 1 6 0 / R T ) cm2/s

[1]

where R is the gas c o n s t a n t and T the a b s o l u t e t e m p e r a t u r e ; the diffusion d i s t a n c e , X in t i m e t s is ~6

X-

2 D(D-ic m s .

[2]

F o r a 1 h a n n e a l the diffusion d i s t a n c e s a r e 0.2 pm

at 100~ 3 /an at 200~ and 18 l.an at 300~
Since the
d i a m e t e r of the g r a i n s is about 10 pan, the c a l c u l a t i o n
i n d i c a t e s that a t e m p e r a t u r e of at l e a s t 200~ is needed
for c a r b o n to diffuse throughout the g r a i n s .
Dual phase s t e e l s have smooth s t r e s s - s t r a i n c u r v e s
b e c a u s e of the g e t t e r i n g a c t i o n of the v a n a d i u m in r e m o v i n g i n t e r s t i t i a l s o l u t e s and the abundance of f r e e
d i s l o c a t i o n s produced at a r e l a t i v e l y low t e m p e r a t u r e
by the m a r t e n s i t i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n . The volume exp a n s i o n of 3 to 4 pet 2~ which a c c o m p a n i e s the a u s t e n i t e m a r t e n s i t e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n will s t a r t at a r o u n d 400~
and be completed well above r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e .
The 0.2 pct flow s t r e s s e s found for these dual phase
s t e e l s of 270 to 370 M P a (39,000 to 54,000 psi) a r e
lower than expected. F o r the p r e s e n t alloys the e m p i r i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p for g r a i n s i z e , Mn and Si solid
solution s t r e n g t h e n i n g36 would p r e d i c t a flow s t r e s s of
400 M P a (58,000 psi). T h i s d i s c r e p a n c y is p r o b a b l y
caused by a c o m b i n a t i o n of f a c t o r s ; 1) a B a u s c h i n g e r
effect f r o m the i n t e r n a l s t r e s s e s p r o d u c e d when the
m a r t e n s i t e i s l a n d s a r e formed; T i t h e r and Lavite 31
have p r o p o s e d such an explanation for the lower
s t r e n g t h and smooth y i e l d i n g of an a c i c u l a r f e r r i t e
s t r u c t u r e in HSLA pipe line s t e e l s , and 2) the e m p i r i cal r e l a t i o n s h i p was developed for s t e e l s whose y i e l d ing is c o n t r o l l e d by d i s l o c a t i o n m u l t i p l i c a t i o n (steels
with yield points) while the smooth yield of dual phase
s t e e l s is a m e a s u r e of the s t r e s s to move d i s l o c a t i o n s ;
thus the two c l a s s e s of s t e e l s a r e not d i r e c t l y c o m parable.
B. Impact R e s i s t a n c e
The dual phase s t e e l s a r e , as shown in Fig. 15,
c o n s i d e r a b l y tougher than the c o n v e n t i o n a l HSLA steel;
s i n c e all these i m p a c t s p e c i m e n s c a m e f r o m the s a m e
sheet of s t e e l the d i f f e r e n c e s in toughness m u s t be due
METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

o V Steel
,,1
z, Fe - . S M n - . 1 2 C
,"
(KO0 8~ THOMAS)
//
ID Fe- C Alloys
/
Temp. 200~
9
200
(TAMURA et ol) , /
/
/

0
Q.

:~ 1 6 0 0
(%1
o
o
d 1200
/I

~
tf#

(/)
03
"' 8 0 0
tr

/yzo

(n

400

J
tl.

/
/f/
J
0

/ I /Q- Z f ~ ' %
.,"

I00

!
,
l
!
,
I
20
40
60
80
PERCENT
MARTENSITE

O0

Fig. 17--Flow stress as function of percentage martensite in

dual phase quenched V steel and plain carbon steels. ~'18

to s t r u c t u r a l changes alone. Two p o s s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n s

for this toughness i m p r o v e m e n t a r e : 1) The n a t u r e of
the i n t e r f a c e b e t w e e n the second phase and m a t r i x ;
m a r t e n s i t e will be c o h e r e n t with, while the c a r b i d e s
will in g e n e r a l be i n c o h e r e n t with, the f e r r i t e l a t t i c e .
D u r i n g s t r a i n i n g d i s l o c a t i o n s will pile up at the c a r b i d e / f e r r i t e i n t e r f a c e leading to the n u c l e a t i o n of voids
and fracture.27'2s On the other hand d i s l o c a t i o n s f r o m
the f e r r i t e will be able to p e n e t r a t e into the m a r t e n site, albeit with difficulty, and thus t h e r e will not be
such l a r g e s t r a i n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s ; f r a c t u r e will o c c u r
at higher s t r a i n s . 2) Changes in m a t r i x p r o p e r t i e s .
The f e r r i t e i n the dual phase s t r u c t u r e has, as indicated by the flow s t r e s s data, a low s t r e n g t h and
should be tough ( r e s i s t a n c e to c r a c k propagation). In
the c o n v e n t i o n a l s t e e l the f e r r i t e is s t r e n g t h e n e d by
c a r b o n i t r i d e p r e c i p i t a t e s 5 which in g e n e r a l d e g r a d e
i m p a c t p r o p e r t i e s . The d i f f e r e n c e s in toughness between the IDP and ADP s p e c i m e n s ( p a r t i c u l a r l y the
shelf e n e r g y Fig. 15) could be a r e s u l t of m i n o r , but
i m p o r t a n t , v a r i a t i o n in m a r t e n s i t e d i s t r i b u t i o n as a
r e s u l t of t h e i r d i f f e r e n t t h e r m a l h i s t o r i e s .
C. Ductility
The r e s u l t s p r e s e n t e d in F i g s . 8 and 9 at f i r s t sight
a p p e a r to be c o n t r a d i c t o r y ; in Fig. 8 the dual phase
s t r u c t u r e s a r e s u p e r i o r while in Fig. 9 the s t a n d a r d
HSLA s t e e l s have s u p e r i o r ductility. The d i s c r e p a n c y
a r i s e s b e c a u s e of d i f f e r e n c e s in the n a t u r e of yielding;
in Fig. 9 the open s y m b o l s , r e p r e s e n t i n g s t a n d a r d
s t e e l s , exhibit a yield p l a t e a u i.e., p l a s t i c flow is
d o m i n a t e d by d i s l o c a t i o n m u l t i p l i c a t i o n , while the
filled s y m b o l s r e p r e s e n t smoothly y i e l d i n g s a m p l e s ,
i.e., the flow s t r e s s is the s t r e s s for d i s l o c a t i o n
motion.
A m e a s u r e of the c o m p a r a b l e flow s t r e s s in each
type of s t e e l is needed if one is to make c o m p a r i s o n s .
It has b e e n d e m o n s t r a t e d s'~ that the flow s t r e s s of the
HSLA and dual p h a s e s t e e l s obeys the power law
: ke n

[3]

where a is the t r u e s t r e s s , 9 the t r u e s t r a i n and k and

VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978-49

n a r e c o n s t a n t s . F o r a m a t e r i a l with a yield point,

the data at high s t r a i n s can be used, by m e a n s of Eq.
[3], to find what the 0.2 pct flow s t r e s s would have
b e e n in the a b s e n c e of the yield and L u d e r s r e g i o n .
T h i s e x t r a p o l a t i o n was made for s t a n d a r d V s t e e l s
with the r e s u l t s shown by the a r r o w s to the solid diamond s y m b o l s in Fig. 9; now the points fall on the
s a m e c u r v e a s the dual p h a s e a l l o y s . In addition a V
s t e e l s p e c i m e n was r e d u c e d about 1 pct in t h i c k n e s s by
r o l l i n g p r i o r to s t r a i n i n g ; the flow s t r e s s was r e d u c e d
by the i n t r o d u c t i o n of f r e e d i s l o c a t i o n s and i n t e r n a l
s t r e s s by the r o l l i n g , a s i l l u s t r a t e d by the a r r o w to the
solid c i r c l e in Fig. 9. T h e s e r e s u l t s indicate that if
we could m e a s u r e the t r u l y c o m p a r a b l e flow s t r e s s e s
in all the m a t e r i a l s , all the points would fall on a common i n i t i a l flow s t r e s s - e l o n g a t i o n curve.
The data of Fig. 8 shows that for the s a m e elongation the dual phase s t e e l s have a higher u l t i m a t e s t r e s s
than s t a n d a r d HSLA s t e e l s . Since, as d e m o n s t r a t e d
above, they s t a r t e d at the s a m e flow s t r e s s the d i f f e r e n c e s in u l t i m a t e s t r e s s m u s t a r i s e s o l e l y f r o m diff e r e n c e s in s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g b e h a v i o r . It has b e e n
shown 5'7 and c o n f i r m e d in the p r e s e n t study, that n, the
s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g exponent in Eq. [3] i n c r e a s e s f r o m
about 0.11 in s t a n d a r d V s t e e l to about 0.24 in IDP V
s t e e l . A high n value s t a b i l i z e s t e n s i l e d e f o r m a t i o n
a g a i n s t local i n s t a b i l i t i e s and necking, and leads to a
g r e a t e r total elongation. Let us now c o n s i d e r the n
value in dual p h a s e s t e e l s .
The s t r e n g t h of dual phase s t e e l s is governed by the
p r o p o r t i o n s of soft f e r r i t e and s t r o n g m a r t e n s i t e
p r e s e n t and thus it is not u n r e a s o n a b l e to expect the
s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g b e h a v i o r to r e f l e c t the s t r u c t u r e of
the m a t e r i a l . In a study of F e - l . 5 M n - C dual phase
a l l o y s 32 it was found that n is a function of the f r a c t i o n
m a r t e n s i t e as shown in Fig. 18; also included in this
f i g u r e a r e the data for p u r e i r o n (0.005 pet C), 33 b a i n ite 34 and s t a n d a r d and dual phase V steels.5,7 It can be
s e e n that n d e c r e a s e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y l i n e a r l y with inc r e a s i n g p e r c e n t m a r t e n s i t e up to about 50 pet m a r t e n s i t e . Thus the n value for dual phase s t e e l s is a r e f l e c t i o n of the a m o u n t of soft f e r r i t e in the s t r u c t u r e .
D. T h e o r y of C o m p o s i t e s and Dual P h a s e Steels
Mileiko 35 and G a r m o n g and T h o m p s o n 36 have developed e x p r e s s i o n s for the change in u n i f o r m e l o n g a tion and t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h in c o m p o s i t e s of two ductile
p h a s e s ; the t h e o r y was developed for f i b e r c o m p o s i t e s
t e s t e d in t e n s i o n p a r a l l e l to the f i b e r axis. Although
the m a r t e n s i t e in dual phase s t e e l s is not in the f o r m
of f i b e r s , we a r e d e a l i n g with the s i t u a t i o n of two ductile m a t e r i a l s and the t h e o r y could s t i l l be a p p l i c a b l e .
M a r t e n s i t e , although not u s u a l l y c o n s i d e r e d a ductile
m a t e r i a l , exhibits much g r e a t e r d u c t i l i t y than the int e r m e t a l l i c or i n t e r s t i t i a l phases often found in c o m posites.
The p r e d i c t i o n s of the t h e o r y a r e : 1) the t e n s i l e
s t r e n g t h is, to a f i r s t a p p r o x i m a t i o n , a l i n e a r function
of the volume f r a c t i o n of the second p h a s e (law of mixt u r e s ) ; this is in a c c o r d with the r e s u l t s for dual phase
a l l o y s , 7'32 and 2) the u n i f o r m elongation of a composite
is l e s s than indicated by a law of m i x t u r e s . * Given the
*Most theories of composites predict a linear relationship between composition
and strength, but only the theory considered here appears capable of predicting
the ductility/composition variation. See Ref. 36 for discussion of this point.
50-VOLUME

9 A , J A N U A R Y 1978

o Fe-Mn-C
9", Quenched V

Steel

Pure Iron
. 5 0 ~"
~0~
~ J

Dual Phose

VAN 80

--

n .20

Theoretic
Prediction : ~
Mileiko

~,,~

Standard

.[0 _VAN-80
Boinites

I0
20
30
40
50
PERCENT MARTENSITE
Fig. 18--Stress exponent, n, as a function of percentage martensite determined experimentally for quenched V steel and
Fe-Mn-C steels, 32 pure iron, 33 bainites 34 and as-received and
dual phase V steel, as well as a theoretical prediction.
0

m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of the two c o m p o n e n t s it is poss i b l e to calculate the change in ductility with p e r c e n t age of the second phase.
The r e l a t i o n s h i p between, V, the volume f r a c t i o n of
the second phase and the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of the
two c o m p o n e n t s and the composite is given by 35
1

V=

EC -- E m

1 +t3 C - F - r

[4a]
" CcCrn

- EF

where
13 = a m " f - F e F ' exp e m
ffF ern Ern exp c F

[4b]

and a m and aF a r e the t r u e t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h s of the

m a r t e n s i t e and f e r r i t e r e s p e c t i v e l y , and % , ~m and
eF a r e the t r u e u n i f o r m s t r a i n s for the c o m p o s i t e ,
m a r t e n s i t e and f e r r i t e r e s p e c t i v e l y . F o r m a t e r i a l s
that obey Eq. [3], the u n i f o r m s t r a i n , is equal to the
value of n , 37
The r e l a t i o n s h i p between n and the p e r c e n t a g e m a r t e n s i t e in the p r e s e n t dual phase alloys was c a l c u l a t e d
u s i n g the following values of the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r ties; 7,32 m a r t e n s i t e has a t r u e t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h of 2000
M P a (290,000 psi) and a t r u e u n i f o r m s t r a i n of 0.08
while f e r r i t e has a t r u e t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h of 480 M P a
(70,000 psi) and a t r u e u n i f o r m s t r a i n of 0.31 aa
F i g u r e 18 shows that the e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s for dual
phase V s t e e l S'7 and F e - M n - C alloys 33 and the t h e o r y
a r e in good a g r e e m e n t , thus i n d i c a t i n g that dual phase
a l l o y s may be t r e a t e d as m i x t u r e s of soft f e r r i t e and
strong martensite.
The p r o p e r t i e s of dual phase s t r u c t u r e s appear to be
adequately d e s c r i b e d by the above theory. Thus it is
not u n r e a s o n a b l e to use Eq. [4] and the law of m i x t u r e s
to calculate the d u c t i l i t y and s t r e n g t h of dual phase
s t e e l s which a r e composed of v a r i o u s s t r e n g t h f e r r i t e s
and m a r t e n s i t e s . The r e s u l t s of such a computation
a r e shown in Fig. 19 for s e v e r a l r a t i o s of the m a r t e n site to f e r r i t e s t r e n g t h s ; the v a l u e s for n were m a i n tained c o n s t a n t at 0.08 for m a r t e n s i t e and 0.31 for f e r r i t e . At a given s t r e n g t h of the composite it can be
s e e n that the s t r e n g t h of the f e r r i t e is the most i m METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

Table II. Mechanical Properties of V Steel After Various Thermal Treatment

Condition

0.2 Pet
YieldStress,
MPa(ksi)

Tensile
Unif
Total
Strength, Elonga- ElongaMPa(ksi)
tion,Pct tion,Pct

Asreceived
ISDP
ADP
ISP-pearlite

603 (87.5)
348 (50.5)
352(51.0)
531 (77.0)

730 (106)
800 (116)
758(110)
648 (94)

12.5
22.0
19.3
18.5

18.0
27.0
22.5
24.5

0.12
0.24
0.21
0.19

E. A l l o y i n g for Dual P h a s e S t r u c t u r e s

ksi
40
'

030

80
'

120
'

160
'

'

'
-

strength martens~te (ksi).

-- numbers ore

strength ferrite (ksi)

' ~ I O P

Peorlite

0.20
- A

0.10

produce p e a r l i t e . 12 The o b s e r v e d m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s a f t e r this and other t h e r m a l t r e a t m e n t s a r e p r e s e n t e d in T a b l e II which shows that this IDP p e a r l i t e
is s u p e r i o r to a s - r e c e i v e d V s t e e l but not as good as
the IDP s t r u c t u r e . The c a l c u l a t e d n value (see F i g .
19) for IDP p e a r l i t e is in good a g r e e m e n t with the exp e r i m e n t a l value. T h e s e r e s u l t s e m p h a s i z e a g a i n the
i m p o r t a n c e of a soft, highly ductile f e r r i t e m a t r i x i n
p r o d u c i n g the b e s t c o m b i n a t i o n of s t r e n g t h and ductility
in dual phase s t r u c t u r e s .

\ \ ~

2oo-~o

/ 3 8 0 / 70

I
I
1
I
400
600
800
I000
TENSILE STRENGTH, M P 0

I
1200

Fig. 19--Calculated c u r v e s of the stress e x p o n e n t , n , as a

function of strength of the dual phase steel for several ratios
of the martensite to ferrite strength and for two pearlitecontaining steels (as-received and IDP pearlite).

p o r t a n t f a c t o r in g o v e r n i n g the d u c t i l i t y (n) and that

the m a r t e n s i t e s t r e n g t h is of s e c o n d a r y i m p o r t a n c e .
E x p e r i m e n t s in which the c a r b o n content of the a u s t e n i t e was v a r i e d d u r i n g the a n n e a l i n g indicate that
the a p p a r e n t s t r e n g t h of the m a r t e n s i t e in the dual
phase s t r u c t u r e s is independent of c a r b o n content. 32
The f e r r i t e should have as high as a t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h
as p o s s i b l e while s t i l l m a i n t a i n i n g a high n value.
M o r r i s o n 33 found that only for p u r e i r o n (0.005 pct C)
was n independent of g r a i n s i z e and s t r e n g t h ; s t r e n g t h e n i n g by c a r b i d e p r e c i p i t a t i o n leads to a lower n
value a4,38 Thus to get the b e s t s t r e n g t h / d u c t i l i t y comb i n a t i o n in dual phase s t e e l s , a high p u r i t y , fine
g r a i n e d (high strength) f e r r i t e is r e q u i r e d .
The r e l a t i o n s h i p s given by Eq. [4] do not depend
upon the second phase b e i n g m a r t e n s i t e but should apply equally well to a d i s p e r s i o n of p e a r l i t e . The a s r e c e i v e d V s t e e l c o n s i s t s of 15 to 20 pct p e a r l i t e 11 in
a c a r b i d e s t r e n g t h e n e d f e r r i t e . P e a r l i t e f o r m e d at
about 600~ has a t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h of 1300 M P a (190
ksi) and an n value of 0.10; 34 f r o m data for a d i s p e r s i o n
of TiC in f e r r i t e 38 it was c a l c u l a t e d that for the f e r r i t e
in the V s t e e l , the t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h is about 590 M P a
(85,000 psi) and n is about 0.18. The d e r i v e d r e l a t i o n ship b e t w e e n n and t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h is shown in F i g .
19; the v a l u e of n at 680 M P a (100,000 psi) of 0.14 is in
good a g r e e m e n t with m e a s u r e d v a l u e s .
A s a m p l e of V s t e e l was a n n e a l e d for 10 m i n at
790~ to p r o d u c e a clean, e s s e n t i a l l y c a r b i d e f r e e
f e r r i t e , and then down quenched and held at 575~ to
METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

The d i s c u s s i o n of s t r e n g t h and ductility have shown

that the p r o p e r t i e s of dual phase s t e e l s a r e dependent
upon the r e l a t i v e p r o p o r t i o n s of m a r t e n s i t e and fine
g r a i n e d f e r r i t e ; the alloy will be s t r o n g e r but l e s s
d u c t i l e (lower n) the l a r g e r the p e r c e n t a g e of m a r t e n s i t e p r e s e n t in the s t r u c t u r e . It should be p o s s i b l e to
develop d i f f e r e n t s t r e n g t h / d u c t i l i t y c o m b i n a t i o n s in
m a t e r i a l s having dual phase s t r u c t u r e s . Thus a new
f a m i l y of s t e e l s other than those c o m m e r c i a l l y a v a i l able can be expected.
The p e r c e n t a g e of m a r t e n s i t e in the dual phase
s t r u c t u r e will depend upon 1) the c a r b o n content, 2)
the a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e and 3) the h a r d e n a b i l i t y of
the a u s t e n i t e r e g i o n s . The r e q u i r e d h a r d e n a b i l i t y will
be dependent upon the cooling r a t e s to be employed;
quenched a l l o y s will r e q u i r e s m a l l e r a l l o y i n g additions
to p r o m o t e h a r d e n a b i l i t y than a i r cooled a l l o y s . F o r
e x a m p l e , alloys with 1.5 pet Mn can be a i r cooled to
give a dual p h a s e s t r u c t u r e , while those that contain
about 0.4 pet Mn do not r e s p o n d to a i r cooling, 5
To m a x i m i z e the s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g coefficient n and
hence ductility, the f e r r i t e should be as devoid of fine
c a r b i d e s and have as low an i n t e r s t i t i a l content as
p o s s i b l e . All the s t r o n g c a r b i d e f o r m i n g e l e m e n t s ,
T i , Nb and V will effectively r e d u c e the i n t e r s t i t i a l
content of f e r r i t e , 19'2~ however, T i and Nb c a r b o n i t r i d e s will not go into s o l u t i o n at the a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s . 9 T h u s we a r e left with V additions to tie up
the i n t e r s t i t i a l atoms; the a m o u n t of V should be as
low as possible; t o m i n i m i z e c a r b o n i t r i d e f o r m a t i o n ,
but s t i l l s u f f i c i e n t to e l i m i n a t e s t r a i n aging (>0.03
pet). Molybdenum, whose c a r b i d e f o r m i n g t e n d e n c y is
not as g r e a t as that of V, may work in a s i m i l a r m a n n e r ; Mo c a r b i d e s will d i s s o l v e r a p i d l y at the a n n e a l ing t e m p e r a t u r e s and so r e d u c e a n n e a l i n g t i m e s .
S m a l l a m o u n t s of V and Mo in solution s9 have a b e n e f i c i a l affect on the h a r d e n a b i l i t y of s t e e l s .

SUMMARY
A study of dual phase, martensite plus ferrite,
structures produced by controlled cooling from either
the austenite or austenite plus ferrite phase fields of
V containing H S L A steel has led to the following results and conclusions:
I) As previously reported, dual phase structures
have a lower yield stress and an increase in ductility
at an essentially constant tensile strength when compared to standard H S L A steels.
2) The strength of dual phase steels is a function of
the percentage of martensite in the structure; the
VOLUME 9A, JANUARY 1978-51

strength can be considered as a mechanical

mixture of
soft ferrite and strong martensite.
3) F a t i g u e o f d u a l p h a s e s t r u c t u r e s
is slightly superior in the high strain life region (ductility controlled) and slightly inferior in the low strain life
(yield dominated) region when compared to the conventional HSLA steel.
4) C h a r p y i m p a c t p r o p e r t i e s
of dual phase steels
are superior to those of the standard steels due to the
replacement
of pearlite and cementite, which can nucleate cracks, by more ductile martensite.
5) T h e t h e o r y o f c o m p o s i t e s
of two ductile phases is
applicable to these dual phase structures
and also to
those containing pearlite colonies.
6) It i s d e m o n s t r a t e d
that the desirable strength/
ductility properties
of dual phase steels are a consequence of the high strength, high n value ferrite matrix- the strength of the martensite
is of secondary
importance.
7) W i t h o u r p r e s e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g
of the factors controlling the mechanical properties
of dual phase struct u r e s it s h o u l d b e p o s s i b l e t o d e v e l o p n e w a l l o y s to
take advantage of the improved properties,
instead of
having to use commercially
available steels. The requirement of very ductile ferrite may dictate the use
o f s m a l l a d d i t i o n s o f V a n d / o r M o to r e m o v e i n t e r s t i tial atoms from solution.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is grateful to C. Amberger
and W.
Stewart for technical assistance
and to C. L. Magee
and P. H. Thornton for many helpful discussions
and
for critically reviewing the manuscript.

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5 2 - V O L U M E 9A, JANUARY 1978

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METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A