Effect of Silicon on the Interaction between Recrystallization and Precipitationin Niobium Microalloyed Steels

Abstract

The effect of Si addition on the interaction between recrystallization and precipitation was investigated in terms of the no-recrystallization temperature (T_nr) on three microalloyed steels containing about 0.035 mass% Nb. The T_nr was measured using torsion testing over the Si concentration range from 0.01 to 0.48 mass%. It was observed that the T_nr increased with Si level, but appeared to saturate at long interpass times. In addition, high strains reduced the influence of Si on the T_nr. This behaviour is attributed to the acceleration of Nb(C, N) precipitation by the addition of Si.