Improvement of the bending fatigue resistance of the hyper-eutectoid steel wires used for tire cords by a post-processing annealing

In this study, the effects of annealing at a low temperature on the bending fatigue resistance have been investigated in the hyper-eutectoid steel wires drawn to an extreme strain of 4.12. The annealing temperature was varied from 100 to 500 °C. The bending fatigue resistance of the steel wires was measured by a Hunter rotating beam tester specially designed for thin-sized steel wires. The results showed that fatigue resistance as well as tensile strength improved as the annealing temperature increased up to 200 °C (Region I) and gradually decreased after annealing above 200 °C (Region II). In order to elucidate this behavior, residual stress was measured by dual beam FIB, surface defects observed by an optical 3D profiler and the microstructure in terms of lamellar spacing (λp) and cementite thickness (tc) was observed by TEM.