Processing of Fine-Grained DP300/600 Dual Phase Steel from St12 Structural Steel by the Thermo-Mechanical Processing of Cold Rolling and Intercritical Annealing

The effect of microstructural refinement and intercritical annealing on the mechanical properties and work-hardening response of a low carbon St12 steel was studied. It was revealed that intercritical annealing of the ferritic-pearlitic sheet results in the formation of a coarse-grained DP microstructure with discrete martensite islands normally formed in place of pearlitic colonies, which results in the minor enhancement of mechanical properties with disappearance of the yield-point elongation. On the other hand, a fine-grained DP steel with chain-network martensite morphology can be obtained by intercritical annealing of the cold rolled martensitic microstructure, which shows superior work hardening rate, low yield ratio, and high tensile strength. In this way, it is possible to enhance the mechanical properties of St12 steel toward those of DP300/600 steel. Compared with the conventional DP350/600 grade, a significant enhancement in the work-hardening behavior can be achieved with acceptable strength-ductility balance compared with the usual trend seen in steels. As a result, it was concluded that cold rolling of the initial martensitic microstructure before intercritical annealing is a viable approach for processing DP steels with enhanced mechanical properties for industrial applications.