DOI 10.

1007/s11041-020-00468-6
Metal Science and Heat Treatment, Vol. 61, Nos. 9 – 10, January, 2020 (Russian Original Nos. 9 – 10, September – October, 2019)

UDC 621.735:669.018.298:620.17

EVOLUTION OF STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF MULTIPHASE

LOW-CARBON STEEL DURING COLD RADIAL FORGING

T. Yu. Barsukova,1 D. O. Panov,1 A. S. Pertsev,2 A. I. Smirnov,3 and Yu. N. Simonov1

Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 10, pp. 25 – 32, October, 2019.

The structure and mechanical properties of low-carbon steel 10Kh3G3MFS after cold radial forging with 20,
40 and 60% deformation are studied. The initial (multiphase) condition of the steel is provided by quenching
from the intercritical temperature range. The effect of the degree of the deformation on the characteristics of
strength, ductility, impact toughness, micromechanism of fracture and parameters of the substructure of the
steel is determined.

Key words: steel, radial forging, deformation, intercritical temperature range, fracture.

INTRODUCTION
Development and application of various processes of
forming treatment of steels of various classes (rolling, forg-
ing and other kinds of pressure treatment of metals) attracts
special interest of many researchers due to the prospects of
advancement of many properties, creation of gradient struc-
tures and ultrafine-grained state [1, 2].
Radial forging is a possible and efficient method for cre-
ating ultrafine-grained materials for bulky articles [3, 4].
Promising materials for such treatment are low-carbon steels
with a structure of lath martensite, which possess a unique
combination of mechanical properties combining a high
strength with enough ductility and reliability [5]. An effec-
tive technique for preliminary refinement of structure and el-
evation of process ductility is quenching from the intercri-
tical temperature range (ITR), which is especially successful
for initially hardened steels [6]. The multiphase structure
produced by such treatment is represented by martensite, lay-
ers of retained austenite, and an isolated ferritic phase [7].
Knowledge of the laws of formation of structure and proper-
ties of the steel in the multiphase condition under deforma-
tion is necessary for effective control of the process of strain
hardening and formation of the specified combination of
properties. The difficulties of the solution of this task are
connected with complexity of the structure of multiphase
quenched steels and hence with variety of the ways of its
possible evolution during plastic deformation [8]. For exam-
1 yields after the cooling a multiphase structure consisting of
Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Perm, Russia
(e-mail: barsukova-chernova.tatyana@mail.ru).
2
Perm Research Technological Institute, Perm, Russia.
3
Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
ple, the changes in the structure may be connected with par-
tial decomposition of martensite under the deformation
and/or with transformation of the austenite present in the
quenched steel into strain martensite [9]. In addition, the aus-
tenite, ferrite and low-carbon martensite may accumulate
crystal structure defects, which causes fragmentation and re-
crystallization processes [10].
The aim of the present work was to study the effect of
cold radial forging with 20, 40 and 60% deformation on the
micro- and substructure and mechanical properties of low-car-
bon steel 10Kh3G3MFS in the initial multiphase condition.
METHODS OF STUDY
We studied steel 10Kh3G3MFS [11] of the following
chemical composition (in wt.%): 0.1 C, 1.25 Si, 2.51 Mn,
2.75 Cr, 0.12 V, 0.40 Mo, 0.008 S, 0.019 P. Ingots from this
steel with a mass of 40 kg were hot rolled into billets with di-
ameter 65 mm, which were then subjected to free forging to
Æ19 mm. When the forging was finished (at 950°C), the bars
were cooled in air. The structure formed in the steel in this
way was represented by low-carbon martensite. To obtain a
refined multiphase structure, the steel was heated in the ITR
to 800°C, held for 2 h, and then quenched in air. The pro-
cesses of structure formation in such a treatment have been
studied in detail in [7]. It has been shown that the occurrence
of an incomplete phase transformation under the heating
76% martensite with layers of retained austenite and 24%
isolated regions of a high-tempered a-phase with some dis-
persed carbide particles.

610
0026-0673/20/0910-0610 © 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Evolution of Structure and Properties of Multiphase Low-Carbon Steel During Cold Radial Forging
After the quenching, the bars were subjected to cold
plastic deformation by radial forging in a radial compacting
machine with the following parameters: the speed of feeding
of the billet 180 mm/min, the speed of its rotation 25 rpm,
the impact rate of the strikers 1000 impacts per minute. Dur-
ing the forging, the deformation source was cooled continu-
ously with water. The degree of the plastic deformation was
20, 40 and 60% and was determined for each pass from the
change in the cross sectional area of the bar with respect to
the initial size.
After each treatment variant, we conducted mechanical
tests for uniaxial tension using an INSTRON-SATEC 300LX
universal hydraulic system (specimens of type III, No. 7,
GOST 1497–84) and for impact bending (specimens of kind
T, type 17 with concentrator, GOST 9457–78) using a KM-30
pendulum impact machine. We measured the hardness of the
bars in cross sections in two mutually perpendicular diamet-
ral directions by the Vickers method according to GOST
2999–75 using an IT 5010 device at a load of 5 kgf/mm2.
We conducted macro- and micro-fractographic analyses
of the steel. The macrofractures were studied using an
OLYMPUS SZX-16 optical microscope at magnifications up
to ´ 100. The images were processed using the Olympus
StreamMotion v.1.8 software. The microfractures were stu-
died using a Hitachi S-3400N scanning electron microscope
for the specimens tested for impact toughness. We studied
the regions where the fracture occurred under a plane-strain
condition (the flat regions of the fractures). The proportion of
the structural components (dimples and facets) was deter-
mined by the method of point analysis of the images [12].
We studied the microstructure of the bars in transverse
and longitudinal directions using an Olympus GX 51 optical
inverted microscope at a magnification of up to ´ 1000 for
microsections etched in a 4% alcoholic solution of nitric
acid. We also investigated the microstructure at resolution on
thin foils with the help of a FEI Tecnai 20 G2 TWIN trans-
mission electron microscope at an accelerating voltage of
200 kV. We determined the phase composition of the steel
with the help of micro-diffraction and dark-field analysis
[13, 15]. The foils were prepared by standard electropo-
lishing procedures [13 – 15] in cross sections of the bars for
the initial condition and in longitudinal sections after the de-
formation. The electron micrographs were used to determine
the scalar dislocation density by the linear-intercept method
with allowance for the invisibility of dislocations [14] and
the average transverse size of the substructure components
(cells in the a-phase for the initial condition and strain cells)
using the Olympus StreamMotion v.1.8 software. The data
obtained were processed statistically.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Evolution of Micro- and Substructure
The microstructure of steel 10Kh3G3MFS in the initial
condition obtained by quenching from the ITR is homoge-
611
neous and consists of a dispersed mixture of martensite and
ferrite (Fig. 1a ).
After the cold deformation by radial forging with
e = 20 – 60% the microstructure changes in the cross section
of the bar, which is manifested in different etching of local
regions (Fig. 1b, d, and f ). The dark regions 1 have a deve-
loped substructure in contrast to the light regions 2 (Fig. 1b
and d ). After the deformation with e = 20%, the structure ex-
hibits individual grain boundaries and boundaries of marten-
site packets (Fig. 1b ). After the deformation with e = 40 and
60% the packet-lath pattern of the structure disappears
(Fig. 1d and f ).
Considerable changes occur in the longitudinal section of
the bars too. After the deformation with e = 20% the struc-
tural components have no manifested directions (Fig. 1c ),
but at e = 40% is already distinguishable (Fig. 1e ) and at
e = 60% (Fig. 1g ) we observe a banded structure.
Figures 2 and 3 present the fine structure of the initial
and deformed steel 10Kh3G3MFS. In the initial condition
(after quenching from the upper part of the ITR) we observe
isolated light ferrite layers inside the former austenite grains
heated for quenching (Fig. 2a ); these layers formed as a re-
sult of tempering of the initial martensite are arranged inside
the martensite skeleton and bear some carbide particles. The
internal structure of the ferrite layers is characterized by
presence of dislocations located chiefly in dislocation sub-
boundaries. Polyhedral martensitic regions are present on the
boundaries of the former austenite grains and initial packets
(Fig. 2c ). Inside the martensitic regions of a lamellar shape
we detect layers of retained austenite (Fig. 2b ).
The fine structure of the steel after the cold deformation
with e = 20% in the longitudinal section of the bar is charac-
terized by presence of dislocation clusters in the form of
wide bands (Fig. 2d ). The dark-field analysis has shown
presence of retained austenite in individual fields of view be-
tween martensite laths and in polyhedral martensite regions
(Fig. 2e and f ).
The structure of the steel deformed with e = 40% exhi-
bits metal volumes oriented over the direction of the defor-
mation (Fig. 3a ). The internal structure of such bands is ho-
mogeneous and broken into fragments by dislocation boun-
daries. The microdiffraction patterns contain reflections from
the austenite (Fig. 3b ).
When the degree of the deformation is increased to 60%,
we observe formation of a banded structure (Fig. 3c ) in the
whole of the volume of the steel and refinement of the strain
cells. Reflections from retained austenite are absent in the
microdiffraction patterns (Fig. 3d ).
The deformation treatment of the steel is accompanied
by decrease of the characteristic component of the substruc-
ture, i.e., the mean size of the strain cells decreases to 67 nm,
and the interval of their size distribution becomes narrower
(Fig. 4). The enhancement of the refinement of the structure
with increase in the degree of the deformation is accompa-
nied by growth in the scalar dislocation density (Fig. 5a ).
612 T. Yu. Barsukova et al.

à 20 mm b c

1 Fig. 1. Microstructure of steel

10Kh3G3MFS in transverse (a, b, d,
2 f ) and longitudinal (c, e, g; the arrow
points in the direction of the deforma-
tion) sections of the bar: a) initial
condition (quenching from 800°C);
b, c) after radial forging with defor-
mation e = 20%; d, e) e = 40%; f, g )
2 e = 60%; M ) martensite; F ) ferrite;
g
1, 2 ) regions of enhanced and re-
d e f
duced etching, respectively.

à b 220g c

M
M
F

500 nm 500 nm 500 nm

d e f 200g
D
À

500 nm 500 nm 500 nm

Fig. 2. Fine structure of steel 10Kh3G3MFS in the initial condition after quenching from the intercritical temperature range (a – c) and
after deformation with e = 20% (d – e): a, c, d, e) light-background images; b, f ) dark-background images in reflections 220g and 200g of
the austenite, respectively; M ) martensite; F ) ferrite; A ) austenite; D ) dislocation clusters.
Evolution of Structure and Properties of Multiphase Low-Carbon Steel During Cold Radial Forging 613

à b

500 nm (211)a 500 nm

c d

500 nm (110)a 500 nm

Fig. 3. Fine structure of steel 10Kh3G3MFS after quenching from the ITR and 40% (a, b ) and 60%
(c, d ) deformation: a, c) light-background image; b, d ) dark-background image.

n, % n, %
40 40
à b
30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0

d, nm d, nm
n, % n, %
60 60
50 c 50 d
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0

d, nm d, nm

Fig. 4. Size distribution of dislocation cells in the initial condition in the a-phase (a) and after quenching from the ITR and 20% (b ), 40% (c)
and 60% (d ) deformation: a) means size of the cells d = 496 ± 178 nm; b ) 245 ± 105 nm; c) 125 ± 54 nm; d ) 67 ± 28 nm.
614 T. Yu. Barsukova et al.

d, mm rd ´ 1013, m – 2 P, kN
0.8 4 40
60%
à b

0.6 3 30 40%
rd
20% 0%

0.4 2 20

0.2 d 1 10

0
0 20 40 60 0 5 10 15 20
e, % Dl, %

KCT, s0.2 ; sr , HV5,

ÌJ/m2 ÌPà d; y, % kgf/mm2
0.8 2000 80
sr
c d 500

1500 60
y
s0.2 60%

0.4 1000 40 40%

400

KCT 20%
500 20
d
0%
0 0 300
0 20 40 60 10 5 0 5 10
e, % h, mm
Fig. 5. Parameters of microstructure (a) and results of mechanical tests (b – d ) of steel 10Kh3H3MFS:
a) dependences of the mean transverse size of cells d and dislocation density rd on the degree deforma-
tion; b ) stress-strain diagrams (the degree of radial forging is given at the curves); c) dependences of me-
chanical properties on the degree of deformation; d ) variation of hardness in cross sections of bars (h is
the distance from the middle of the bar over the radius).

Mechanical Properties Variation of mechanical properties of steel

The stress-strain diagrams of the deformed specimens
have a form typical for steels in high-strength condition
(Fig. 5b ). The diagram has no region of uniform plastic
strain. The region of elastic strain is followed by a well mani-
fested stress maximum corresponding to the ultimate strength.
Graphic determination of the yield strength in accordance
with GOST 1497–84 by plotting a straight line parallel to the
region of elastic strain through the abscissa e = 0.2% is in-
correct, because it intersects the stress-strain curve in the re-
gion of localized strain. For this reason, we assume that the
conventional yield strength is equal to the ultimate tensile
strength (Fig. 5c ).
10Kh3G3MFS (Fig. 5c ) quenched from the ITR with in-
crease of the degree of cold deformation from 0 to 60% is
characterized by growth of the ultimate strength sr from
1345 to 1860 MPa and decrease of the ductility parameters d
from 12.0 to 6.8% and y from 62 to 45%. The effect of the
deformation on the parameter characterizing the reliability of
the material, i.e., the value of the KCT, presents interest. Ac-
cording to the data of [16, 17], radial forging with e = 60% of
steels 10Kh3G3MF and 10Kh3G3MFT with martensitic
structure promotes growth of the impact toughness as com-
pared to the initial condition. In our study, radial forging
caused decrease in the impact toughness KCT from 0.76 to
0.23 MJ/m2. The difference between our results and the data
Evolution of Structure and Properties of Multiphase Low-Carbon Steel During Cold Radial Forging 615

à 3 mm b 3 mm c 3 mm d 3 mm

1 1 1

1
2
2 2

e 20 mm f 20 mm g 20 mm h 20 mm

Fig. 6. Fractures [1 ) dimples; 2 ) facets] of specimens of steel 10Kh3G3MFS with type T concentrator after im-
pact bending tests: a, e) initial condition; b, c, d, f, g, h ) after radial forging; b, f ) e = 20%; c, g ) e = 40%; d, h ) 60%.

of [16, 17] is connected with the difference in the structural
states of the steels before forging. The multiphase structure
of steel 10Kh3G3MFS obtained by quenching from the ITR
contains some retained austenite that seems to undergo a
strain-induced polymorphic transformation yielding car-
bon-enriched martensite encountered in the structure in the
form of thin layers, which should embrittle the metal. It
should be noted that the curve describing the dependence of
the impact toughness KCT on the degree of cold plastic de-
formation for steel 10Kh3G3MFS has a minimum at e = 20%
(Fig. 5c ). With growth of the degree of the deformation the
martensitic transformation finishes, the uniformity of the dis-
tribution of the crystal structure defects improves, and a
banded structure appears. It can be seen from Fig. 5c that
when the degree of the deformation e is increased from 20 to
60%, the impact toughness of the steel increases.
The gradient state of the material created under the effect
of cold plastic deformation is characterized by growth of the
hardness of the central part of the cross section of the bar
(Fig. 5d ). The nonuniformity of the distribution of the hard-
ness over the diameter of the bar increases with the degree of
the deformation. The difference in the hardness values in the
central and edge zones of the bar amounts to 9% for e = 20%
and to 14% for e = 60%. This is explainable by the effect of
“superposition” of strain fields under radial forging, as a re-
sult of which the core of the bar is deformed more and its
hardness increases [18].
Figure 6 presents fractures of specimens with a T-type
concentrator after testing for impact bending. In the initial
condition, the crack propagates by the mechanism of brittle
fracture (Fig. 6a and d ). After cold radial forging with de-
gree 20%, the area of the flat part of the fracture surface in-
creases (Fig. 6b ). In this case, fracture develops primarily by
the mechanism of quasi-cleavage (Fig. 6f ), because the
quasi-cleavage facets take 74% of the fractured area. When
the degree of the deformation is increased to 40%, the
macrostructure of the fracture acquires unevenness, which
may be classified as presence of macro-splits (Fig. 6c ) [19].
The content of facets in the microstructure decreases to 70%
(Fig. 6g ). Thus, we may speak about gradual growth of the
area fractured by the mechanism of merging of micro-voids
with growth of the degree of the deformation. The brittle
fracture behavior is replaced by a mixed brittle-ductile be-
havior.
The state of the steel after cold radial forging is interme-
diate in the cycle of the thermal deformation treatment. We
plan to study the processes of variation of structure and pro-
perties in deformed steel 10Kh3G3MFS under heat treatment
and to determine the possibility of formation of high me-
616
chanical properties for creating a commercial process of
thermal deformation treatment of bar billets.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The evolution of microstructure in steel 10Kh3G3MFS
during cold radial forging with 20 – 60% deformation con-
sists in formation of a fiber structure in longitudinal section
of a bar and disappearance of the packet-lath structure in its
cross section; at the level of the substructure we observe
fragmentation and formation of a banded structure in the di-
rection of the deformation.
2. Cold radial forging with e = 20 – 60% promotes
growth of the impact toughness of the steel due to domina-
tion of the processes of fragmentation and formation of
banded structure. The microrelief of the fractures of the spe-
cimens is characterized by considerable growth of the pro-
portion of dimples, which changes the fracture behavior from
brittle one to a mixed one.
3. Formation of a gradient state as a result of cold radial
forging of steel 10Kh3G3MFS provides a high strength level
(an ultimate strength of 1860 MPa), but the reliability is not
high enough (the impact toughness KCT lowers from
0.76 MJ/m2 in the initial condition to 0.23 MJ/m2 at
e = 60%), and the distribution of hardness in the radial direc-
tion of the cross section of the bars is not uniform, which im-
plies necessity for an additional heat treatment.
The electron microscope studies have been performed at
the Collective Use Center “Structure, Mechanical and Physi-
cal Properties of Materials” of the Novosibirsk State Techni-
cal University.
The work has been performed according to Project
No. 11.8213.2017/8.9 within the base part of the state as-
signment to higher educational organizations in the sphere of
scientific activity and with financial support of the Ministry
of Education and Science of Russia.
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