Effect of Strain Rate on the Microstructure of Warm-Deformed Ultrafined Medium-Carbon Steel

In this study, medium-carbon steel was subjected to warm deformation experiments on a Gleeble 3500 thermosimulator machine at temperatures of 550°C and 650°C and strain rates of 0.001 s^-1 to 1 s^-1. The warm deformation behavior of martensite and the effects of strain rate on the microstructure of ultrafine grained medium-carbon steel were investigated. The precipitation behavior of Fe₃C during deformation was analyzed and the results showed that recrystallization occurred at a low strain rate. The average ultrafine ferrite grains of 500 ± 58 nm were fabricated at 550°C and a strain rate of 0.001 s^-1. In addition, the size of Fe₃C particles in the ferrite grains did not show any apparent change, while that of the Fe₃C particles at the grain boundaries was mainly affected by the deformation temperature. The size of Fe₃C particles increased with the increasing deformation temperature, while the strain rate had no significant effect on Fe₃C particles. Moreover, the grain size of recrystallized ferrite decreased with an increase in the strain rate. The effects of the strain rate on the grain size of recrystallized ferrite depended on the deformation temperature and the strain rate had a prominent effect on the grain size at 550°C deformation temperature. Finally, the deformation resistance apparently decreased at 550°C and strain rate of 1 s^-1 due to the maximum adiabatic heating in the material.