The mechanism of hot ductility loss and recovery in Nb-bearing low alloy steels

Abstract

In low alloy steels containing Nb, the poor hot ductility is basically due to the austenite grain boundary segregation of sulfur and the additional matrix strengthening of Nb(C,N) precipitates, both of which decrease the equicohesive temperature. The recovery of hot ductility is therefore attributed to not only the clean grain boundaries that the segregated sulfur is scavenged through the MnS reaction but also the matrix softening by the coarse Nb(C,N) precipitates.