Effect of niobium and titanium addition on the hot ductility of boron containing steel

Research highlights: → Addition of only Nb without Ti has little influence in the hot ductility of B steel. → Hot ductility loss of B-Nb steel is due to grain boundary precipitation of BN. → Adding a small amount of Ti improve the hot ductility of B-Nb steel. → In B-Nb-Ti steel, hot ductility improvement is related to presence of TiN particle. → Presence of TiN particles makes the BN precipitates' distribution more homogeneous. - Abstract: Hot ductility of boron containing steel (B steel) with adding Nb (0.03 wt.%) (B-Nb steel) and B-Nb steel with adding Ti (0.0079 wt.%) (B-Nb-Ti steel) was quantified using hot tensile tests. The specimens were solution-treated at 1350 deg. C and cooled at 20 deg. C s-1 to tensile test temperature (T) in the range of 750 ≤ T ≤ 1050 deg. C. After that, they were strained to failure at a strain rate of 2.5 x 10-3 s-1. For the B-Nb steel, severe hot ductility loss was observed at 850 ≤ T ≤ 950 deg. C, which covered the low temperature in which austenite (γ) single-phase exists, and the high temperature at which γ and ferrite (α) coexist. Ductility loss in the B-Nb steel was caused by the presence of a network of BN precipitates, rather than by Nb(C, N) precipitates at the γ grain boundaries. In contrast, hot ductility of the B-Nb-Ti steel was remarkably improved at 850 ≤ T ≤ 950 deg. C. In the B-Nb-Ti steel, BN precipitates preferentially on TiN particles, resulting in increased BN precipitation in the γ grain interior and a decrease in the network of BN precipitates at the γ grain boundaries. These changes reduce strain localization at the γ grain boundaries and therefore increase the hot ductility of the steel.