MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STEEL WITH

A WIDMANSTATTEN STRUCTURE

B.A. Leont'ev and Yu.N. Buzovskii UDC 620.17:669.15' 74-194

According to the data in the literature, the Widmanstatten s t r u c t u r e is undesirable because of its
negative influence on the impact strength of steel. It has been assumed that a relationship exists between
the d e c r e a s e of the impact strength and the acicular f o r m of f e r r i t e [1]. In some cases it has been found
that steel with a Widmanstatten s t r u c t u r e has s a t i s f a c t o r y p r o p e r t i e s [2]. The c o n t r a d i c t o r y data are evi-
dently due to the fact that not all the factors affecting the mechanical p r o p e r t i e s were taken into account.
Usually the p r o p e r t i e s of steel with a c o a r s e - g r a i n e d Widmanstatten s t r u c t u r e are c o m p a r e d with the p r o -
p e r t i e s of heat treated fine-grained steel, disregarding the strong influence of grain size on the impact
strength. In this work we c o m p a r e the mechanical p r o p e r t i e s of steel with a Widmanstatten s t r u c t u r e and
a g r a n u l a r s t r u c t u r e (annealed) with the same grain size.
The mechanical p r o p e r t i e s were determined on samples of
hot-rolled steel 20K (0.20% C, 0.55% Mn, 0.27% Si, 0.027% S, 0.011%
P, 0.03% Cr, 0.03% Ni). Blanks for mechanical tests (longitudinal
and transverse) were cut f r o m rolled plates 16 m m thick that were
annealed. The blanks were heat treated under conditions p r e v i o u s l y
worked out (see Table 1) to obtain the p r o p e r s t r u c t u r e . The heat
treatments ensured obtaining comparatively uniform austenite grains
of the given size. The cooling time required to obtain the most char-
acteristie Widmanstatten structure was determined from oscillo-
graphic recordings in tests of samples with thermoeouples attached
to them.
Figure 1 shows Widmaastatten structures with different grain
sizes obtained by the methods given. Tensile strength samples (with
a quintuple gage length) and impact strength samples were prepared
from the heat treated blanks. Three samples were tested for each
point.
The mechanical properties of steel 20K at 20~ are shown in
Fig. 2. It can be seen that the samples with a Widmanstatten struc-
ture have not only higher strength and plastic properties but also
higher impact strength. The same relationship holds true for the dif-
ferent grain sizes, the value of which has a negligible effect on the
properties of the steel at room temperature. The effect of the testing
temperature on the impact strength of the steel with different struc-
ture is shown in Fig. 3. From room temperature to --70~ the im-
pact strength is higher for the steel with a Widmanstatten structure,
while at 300 and 500~ there is little difference in theimpact strengths
of the different structures.
The cold brittleness threshold was determined from these data
(Fig. 4). The cold brittleness threshold was taken* as the temper-
ature at which the impact strength was half ils value at room
Fig. 1. Widmanstatten s t r u c t u r e of
steel 20K with different grain sizes * This method .is no longer used; it does not make it possible to de-
(x 100). a) T r e a t m e n t 1; b) t r e a t - termine the d u c t i l e - t o - b r i t t l e transition t e m p e r a t u r e [Editor's note].
ment 2; c) t r e a t m e n t 3.
Z hdanov Metallurgical Institute. T r a n s l a t e d f r o m Metallovedenie i T e r m i c h e s k a y a Obrabotka Metal-
lov, No. 11, pp. 76-79, November, 1968.

930
 cT,,kg/mmZ a n, kg-m/cm z
V,/# o b'

'70 an, kg-m/cm 2

~0
160
6O ,B
J .', k ......
5O ~0

'30
- "k. k ~
>- . . . . .
3o V "9
8
33~ \\\ ",
_ - - ,,o 8
~o
a) 2

80 50 a)
70 an, kg-m/cm 2
70 f
40 60 I
~0 ___ _~s
50 f2
50 3~
'~0 18
~0
2~ 30 8
30
20 8
2O
10
2
5-6 3-4 ~-2
Grain size (grade)
b) b)

Fig. 2 Fig. 3
F i g . 2. M e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of s t e e l 20K with d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r e s , a) L o n g i -
t u d i n a l s a m p l e s ; b) t r a n s v e r s e s a m p l e s . ) Widmanstatten structure;---)
granular structure.

F i g . 3. T e m p e r a t u r e d e p e n d e n c e of i m p a c t s t r e n g t h of s t e e l 20K. a) L o n g i t u -
d i n a l s a m p l e s ; b) t r a n s v e r s e s a m p l e s . ) Widmanstatten structure; .... )
g r a n u l a r s t r u c t u r e . T h e t r e a t m e n t n u m b e r s a r e g i v e n on the c u r v e s .

temperature. The cold brittleness threshold of the steel with a Widmanstatten structure averages 25-30 ~
lower than that of the steel with a granular structure and the same grain size. These results indicate that
steel 20K with aeieular ferrite is more suitable than the granular structure at low temperatures, since the
impact strength is higher.
To determine the reasons for the difference in the mechanical properties of the steel with different
structures we made a quantitative microstructural analysis and also an x-ray analysis. Glagolev's method
was used to determine the amount of pearlite (quasieutectoid), which averaged 40% in the Widmanstatten
structure and 30% in the granular structure. The difference in grain size had a negligible effect on the
amount of pearlite. The higher amount of quasieuteetoid (10%) is evidently one of the reasons for the higher
strength characteristics of the steel with the Widmanstatten structure.

A substantial difference was noted in the crystal structure of the ferrite. The x-ray analysis showed
thas the ferrite in the granular steel has a coarse-grained structure, characterized by large dotted reflec-
tions on the interference rings. In the Widmanstatten structure the ferrite crystals are smaller, as indi-
cated by the blurred reflections along the interference rings. It can be assumed that the displacement
mechanism of the formation of the Widmanstatten structure [3, 4] and the phase hardening connected with
it is one of the reasons for the finer crystal structure of the ferrite. The presence of fine ferrite crystals
(fragments, blocks) evidently increases the mechanical properties of steel 20K with a Widmanstatten struc-
ture, as is indicated by the measurements of the microhardness. The microhardness of the "Widmanstatten"
ferrite was 20-30 units higher than that of the granular steel. The microhardness of the quasieuteetoid in
the Widmanstatten structure averaged 50 units lower than that of the pearlite in the annealed steel. Evi-
dently this is due to the dilution of the quasieuteetoid with ferrite.
The data obtained on the higher mechanical properties of steel with a Widmanstatten structure can-
not be considered to hold true for east steels or steels of other chemical compositions without further

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 TABLE 1
11
Cooling time 0 - - - 12 ~ ' ~ " I
(rain) from - 10. ___..~.I I
800 to 500~
to obtain dif- 40 ~"~ -

Treatment
ferent
tures
, uo- -"
~.~:
t
,.m conditions
5-G 3-* r
Grain size (grade)
F i g . 4. E f f e c t of g r a i n s i z e on
the cold brittleness threshold
< of s t e e l 20K. ) Widmans-
1 1060~ 7 rain 6-5 5 100 tatten structure; .... ) gran-
2 I120~ 20 rain 4-3 ,5 100 u l a r s t r u c t u r e . 1) L o n g i t u d i n a l
3 1250~ 30 rain 2-1 ,0. 100 s a m p l e s ; 2) t r a n s v e r s e s a m p l e s .

i n v e s t i g a t i o n . H o w e v e r , it c a n b e a s s u m e d t h a t t h e r e a s o n f o r t h e l o w e r i m p a c t s t r e n g t h of s t e e l w i t h a
W i d m a n s t a t t e n s t r u c t u r e is n o t t h e a c i c u l a r f o r m of t h e f e r r t t e b u t , f o r e x a m p l e , t h e f a c t t h a t t h e c a s t
s t r u c t u r e is c o a r s e - g r a i n e d or heterogeneous.

CONCLUSIONS
I. Steel 20K with a Widmanstatten structure has higher strength and plastic characteristics as well
as a higher impact strength* than the steel with a granular ferritic--pearlitic structure.
2. At the same grain size the cold brittleness threshold of steel 20K with a Widmanstatten structure
is 25-30~ below that of the steel with a granular structure.
3. The higher mechanical properties of the steel with a Widmanstatten structure are due to the fine-
grained structure of the ferrite and the higher percentage of quasieutectoid.
4. The acicular form of ferrite in the microstructure of the steel cannot be the reason for lower
mechanical properties.

LITERATURE CITED

I. F. Erdmann-Jesnitzer and B. Schellhorn, Industrieblatt, No. 3 (1959).

2. R. E. Mazel', Teplo~nergetika, No. 1 (1958).
3. M. A. Guzovskaya and A. P. Gulyaev, Special Steels and Alloys, Transactions of the Central Scienti-
fic Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy [in Russian], No. 35, Metallurgtzdat, Moscow (1963).
4. B. A. Leont'ev, Fiz. Metal. i Metalloved., 16, No.4 (1963).

* The authors' conclusions concerning the better mechanical properties of steel with a Widmanstatten
structure, particularly the lower cold brittleness threshold, require further confirmation. There are
contradictory data indicating that a granular ferritic--peariitic structure has a lower cold brittleness
threshold than the Widmanstatten structure [Editor's note].

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