Kinetics of Austenite Grain Growth During Heating and Its Influence on Hot Deformation of LZ50 Steel

Grain growth behaviors of LZ50 have been systematically investigated for various temperatures and holding times. Quantitative evaluations of the grain growth kinetics over a wide range of temperature (950-1200 °C) and holding time (10-180 min) have been performed. With the holding time kept constant, the average austenite grain size has an exponential relationship with the heating temperature, while with the heating temperature kept constant, the relationship between the austenite average grain size and holding time is a parabolic curve approximately. The holding time dependence of average austenite grain size obeys the Beck’s equation. As the heating temperature increases, the time exponent for grain growth n increases from 0.21 to 0.39. On the basis of previous models and experimental results, taking the initial grain size into account, the mathematical model for austenite grain growth of LZ50 during isothermal heating and non-isothermal heating is proposed. The effects of initial austenite grain size on hot deformation behavior of LZ50 are analyzed through true stress-strain curves under different deformation conditions. Initial grain size has a slight effect on peak stress.