Investigation of abnormal effect of dual-phase ferritic-bainitic microstructures on modification of mechanical properties of MO40 low alloy steel in comparison with full bainitic conditions

The purpose of this research is to investigate microstructural features and mechanical properties of MO40 low alloy steel under dual-phase ferritic-bainitic in comparison with those of full bainitic conditions. To do so, various heat treatment cycles including Austenitizing the samples at 860°C for 50 minutes, step quenching in primary 620°C salt bath for different duration times of 1 to 10 minutes, quenching in secondary 350°C salt bath for 30 minutes and then water quenching to room temperature in order to develop dual-phase ferritic-bainitic microstructures in the samples. The isothermal heat treatment in primary 620°C salt bath for various duration times was used in order to develop different volume fractions of ferritic phase in the microstructures, then the secondary 350°C salt bath was used for subsequent transformation of remaining prior austenite to bainite. Tensile test, micro and macro hardness testers, optical metallography and FE-SEM equipped with EDS were used for investigation of variations of mechanical properties and microstructural features. The experimental results show that there is a non-linear and abnormal relationship between the mechanical properties of dual-phase ferritic-bainitic samples and variations of ferrite and bainite volume fractions. The mechanical properties of dual-phase ferritic-bainitic samples involving 8-12 vol% grain boundary ferrite in the vicinity of bainite is considerably higher than other dual phase ferritic-bainitic samples and even full bainitic ones. This improvement in mechanical properties of dual-phase ferritic-bainitic samples involving 8-12 vol% ferrite is originating from interaction of bainite crystals on grain boundary ferrite.