Recent progress in visualization and digitization of coherent transformation structures and application in high-strength steel

Xuelin Wang; Zhenjia Xie; Xiucheng Li; Chengjia Shang

doi:10.1007/s12613-023-2781-8

Volume 31 Issue 6

Jun. 2024

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Article Navigation > International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials > 2024 > 31(6): 1298-1310

Xuelin Wang, Zhenjia Xie, Xiucheng Li, and Chengjia Shang, Recent progress in visualization and digitization of coherent transformation structures and application in high-strength steel, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 31(2024), No. 6, pp. 1298-1310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2781-8

Cite this article as:

Xuelin Wang, Zhenjia Xie, Xiucheng Li, and Chengjia Shang, Recent progress in visualization and digitization of coherent transformation structures and application in high-strength steel, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 31(2024), No. 6, pp. 1298-1310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2781-8

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Invited Review

Recent progress in visualization and digitization of coherent transformation structures and application in high-strength steel

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Corresponding authors:
Xuelin Wang E-mail: xuelin2076@ustb.edu.cn

Chengjia Shang E-mail: cjshang@ustb.edu.cn
Received: 27 August 2023; Revised: 6 November 2023; Accepted: 6 November 2023; Available online: 10 November 2023

Abstract

Abstract

High-strength steels are mainly composed of medium- or low-temperature microstructures, such as bainite or martensite, with coherent transformation characteristics. This type of microstructure has a high density of dislocations and fine crystallographic structural units, which ease the coordinated matching of high strength, toughness, and plasticity. Meanwhile, given its excellent welding performance, high-strength steel has been widely used in major engineering constructions, such as pipelines, ships, and bridges. However, visualization and digitization of the effective units of these coherent transformation structures using traditional methods (optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) is difficult due to their complex morphology. Moreover, the establishment of quantitative relationships with macroscopic mechanical properties and key process parameters presents additional difficulty. This article reviews the latest progress in microstructural visualization and digitization of high-strength steel, with a focus on the application of crystallographic methods in the development of high-strength steel plates and welding. We obtained the crystallographic data (Euler angle) of the transformed microstructures through electron back-scattering diffraction and combined them with the calculation of inverse transformation from bainite or martensite to austenite to determine the reconstruction of high-temperature parent austenite and orientation relationship (OR) during continuous cooling transformation. Furthermore, visualization of crystallographic packets, blocks, and variants based on actual OR and digitization of various grain boundaries can be effectively completed to establish quantitative relationships with alloy composition and key process parameters, thereby providing reverse design guidance for the development of high-strength steel.
- high-strength steel;
- microstructure;
- visualization;
- digitization;
- quantification;
- mechanical properties

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