Modeling of Strain-Induced Precipitation Kinetics and Evolution of Austenite Grains in Nb Microalloyed Steels

Considering the effect of strain and chemical composition on precipitation behavior, new models for the start and end time of Nb(C, N) precipitation in austenite under the conditions of different temperatures and strains have been investigated for Nb microalloyed steel. The value of n in the precipitation kinetic equation has been determined by using the available experimental data in literature, which indicated that n is a constant and independent of temperature. The values of the start and end time of the predicted precipitation are compared with the experimental values. Calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results. Also, the evolution of austenite grains before ferrite transformation is simulated by taking the effect of precipitation into consideration. The measured austenite grain size is in good agreement with predicted one prior to ferrite transformation.