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

► 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.