The influence of copper addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of thermomechanically processed microalloyed steels

The present study concerns the influence of Cu addition on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of directly air-cooled microalloyed thin-gauge steel. For this purpose, 1.5 wt% Cu was added to a Ti–B microalloyed steel. It is known that Ni addition to Cu-containing steel is beneficial to eliminate hot shortness caused by Cu. Therefore, the effect of Ni addition (half that of Cu in wt%) on the microstructure formation and mechanical properties has also been studied. Microstructures and mechanical properties of the directly air-cooled steels have demonstrated that addition of 1.5 wt% Cu along with 0.8 wt% Ni in Ti–B microalloyed steel results in a dual phase-like microstructure, which yielded attractive tensile strength (746 MPa) and ductility (31%). However, Cu addition deteriorated the impact toughness of the directly air-cooled Ti–B microalloyed steels.