Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(8):2193–2204
DOI 10.1007/s12666-017-1042-9
TECHNICAL PAPER
Causes of High Temperature Ductility Trough of Microalloyed
Steels
M. A. Matveev1 • N. G. Kolbasnikov1 • A. A. Kononov1
Received: 25 August 2016 / Accepted: 13 January 2017 / Published online: 31 January 2017
Ó The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM 2017
Abstract Influence of continuous casting parameters and
hot rolling regimes on the hot ductility in microalloyed
pipeline steels and structural steels has been investigated
using Gleeble 3800 system. Dependence of the hot duc-
tility on temperature for different thermomechanical
treatment conditions has been studied by physical simula-
tion. The high temperature ductility drop occurs close to
the phase and magnetic transition temperature for all the
studied schedules. The elastic modulus at this temperature
abnormally increases. The main reason of the ductility
decrease is the elastic modulus increase. The structural
factors (e.g. non-metallic inclusions on initial grain
boundaries, interstitial impurities, grain size) lead to the
additional decrease of the ductility. Increase of the grain
boundary lengths and steel refining lead to the hot ductility
improvement. The ductility trough disappears after the
deformation of metal in austenitic region to decrease the
austenite grain size significantly.
Keywords Hot ductility  Ductility trough 
Elastic modulus  Microalloyed pipeline steels 
Continuous casting
1 Introduction
In many papers [1–16] it is indicated that the ductility
trough in cast steels exists in the temperature range of
750–1050 °C. This phenomena is observed both in carbon
& M. A. Matveev
matveev_ma@inbox.ru
1
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 29
Politechnicheskaya Str., St. Petersburg 195251, Russia
and alloyed steels. The additional treatment of metal (e.g.
thermal and deformation cycles on metal shell in secondary
cooling zone of continuous-casting machine) expands the
temperature range of the ductility trough. The ductility
trough can cause unexpected metal failure during the hot
processing. Hot cracks are typical defects in metallurgical
industry (the amount of metal with hot cracks can reach
15% of all the produced metal). Therefore, the determi-
nation of reasons for the ductility trough appearance is the
essential task for the improvement of metal production
quality.
The reasons for the ductility trough appearance are
distinguished for the different temperatures. Suzuki et al.
[7] determined three high temperature ranges of ductility
trough. The first ductility trough exists in temperature
range from 1200 °C to solidus temperature when the liquid
at the grain boundaries appears. In this temperature range,
ductility depends on the chemical composition (e.g. content
carbon, sulfur, phosphorus) and does not depend on the
strain intensity [14, 17–21].
The second ductility trough exists in the temperature
range from 900 to 1200 °C. In this temperature range
sulphides, oxides, carbonitrides fine precipitates are formed
at the initial austenite grain boundaries. This phenomena
leads to the appearance of areas which are free of precip-
itates on the austenite grain boundaries (so-called ‘‘pre-
cipitate free zones’’, or PFZs) [22, 23] or to the formation
and subsequent consolidation of microcavities around the
precipitates. PFZs are the areas of the stress concentrators,
and existence of these zones lead to the fracture at low
strain [7]. Other works reported that ductility decrease in
the temperature range of 1000–1150 °C can be connected
to the retardation of dynamic recrystallization (especially
in niobium microalloyed steels) [1, 3, 14, 22–25]. They
showed that as the austenite grain size increases, boundary
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length decreases and precipitate concentration on austenite
grain boundaries increases without dynamic recrystalliza-
tion. Consequently, intercrystalline failure occurs. The
ductility improvement takes place at the temperature above
1100 °C due to the initiation of the dynamic recrystal-
lization which leads to the redistribution of precipitate
concentration and coalescence of precipitates on the
austenite grain boundaries. It is thought that critical
deformation for the dynamic recrystallization initiation at
high temperature is less than the failure deformation. But
Chown [3] determined that 1.5–2% of strain (the strain is
achieved during slab bending in continuous casting
machine) is not enough for dynamic recrystallization ini-
tiation, and only dynamic recovery occurs. Thus, the
decrease of ductility in the temperature range of
900–1200 °C occurs due to the segregation of non-metallic
inclusions at austenite grain boundaries.
The third ductility trough exists in the temperature range
of 600–900 °C. Near the Ar3 temperature, ferrite grid is
formed at austenite grain boundaries. This grid induces the
non-uniformity of deformation in different phases, and
ductility drops. Below Ar3, ferrite amount rises, and duc-
tility increases [6, 22]. Thus, the reasons of ductility trough
in this temperature range are the ferrite grid formation and
nitrides, carbides and carbonitrides formation [3].
Cyclic cooling of metal surface, which is typical for
continuous casting, significantly reduces hot ductility
[26, 27]. Increase of the temperature amplitude makes
ductility trough wider and deeper, because of additional
thermal stress and faster nucleation of non-metallic pre-
cipitates (nitrides, carbides and carbonitrides). In addition,
when thermocycling occurs close to the phase transfor-
mation temperature, the volume change of metal occurs
(*0.5%) which causes internal stress. When internal stress
achieves ultimate stress, intergranular fracture occurs.
Hot cracks can occur during metal crystallization in a
continuous-casting machine during bending-extension of
slab. Hot cracks appear on initial austenite grain boundaries
or along dendrites. Crystallization conditions, chemical
composition, stress state of metal during casting and hot
rolling, metal microstructure influence crack formation. In
many works, the causes of ductility trough in a continu-
ously cast metal have been studied (see, e.g.,
[1–16, 28, 29]). In all these works, the role of initial
Table 1 Chemical composition of the steels
Steel Element content (wt%)
C Mn ? Si Cr ? Ni Cu
X42 0.10 \1.2 \0.07 0.06
S355 0.12 \1.7 \0.07 0.06
X70 0.09 \2.1 \0.35 0.05
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Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(8):2193–2204
austenite grain boundaries and nonmetallic inclusions, such
as MnS, MgO, CaO, Al2O3 and more complex inclusions
such as FeAlOCaNbC, MnSNbCN, MnSiAlFeO, AlMgO,
Fe(Mn)SO, SiO, and AlMgCaSO, have been recorded. As a
rule, these inclusions are present at grain boundaries, and
cracks develop in these regions. Nevertheless, the follow-
ing question is still open: why does the influence of these
inclusions aggravate in a certain temperature range? In this
paper, the reasons for high temperature ductility trough
during continuous casting in microalloyed steels have been
investigated.
2 Experimental Procedure
Three types of microalloyed pipeline steels were investi-
gated in the present work. The chemical compositions of
these steels are shown in Table 1.
Physical simulation was performed on the Gleeble 3800
system. Round specimens with 10 mm diameter and
working length of 40 mm were used. The temperature was
measured by Type S thermocouple. The heating up to the
melting point of metal was performed in a quartz sleeve
with a slit for the thermocouple. The experimentally cho-
sen temperature, 1440 °C, on the surface of the specimen
guaranteed the appearance of a liquid phase in the central
part of a specimen [5]. Tensile tests of specimens, which
were subjected to thermomechanical cycle, were carried
out at a temperature of 700–1300 °C with 50 or 100 °C
intervals. The metal ductility was estimated by the necking
after fracture w or by true (logarithmic) strain to failure in a
neck (ultimate strain) eu. In the present study, the speci-
mens were tested at the following conditions (Fig. 1a):
1. Heating up to the test temperature 700–1300 °C and
pulling to failure (without thermal and deformation
cycles);
2. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to the test temperature
and pulling to failure without thermal and deformation
cycles;
3. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to 900 °C, thermome-
chanical cycle with an initial amplitude of 300 °C (10
tensile-compression cycles), cooling (or heating) to the
test temperature and pulling to failure;
Al Mo Nb ? V ? Ti N S
0.04 0.003 \0.03 0.006 0.005
0.04 0.003 \0.06 0.006 0.002
0.04 0.016 \0.13 0.005 0.005
Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(8):2193–2204
Fig. 1 Experimental schedules a ductility study, b elastic modulus study
4. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to 700 °C, 10 thermal
cycles (without deformation cycles) with an initial
amplitude of 150 °C, cooling (or heating) to the test
temperature and pulling to failure;
5. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to 700 °C, 5 thermal
cycles (without deformation cycles) with an initial
amplitude of 300°C, cooling (or heating) to the test
temperature and pulling to failure;
6. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to 700 °C, 10 thermal
cycles (without deformation cycles) with an initial
amplitude of 300 °C, cooling (or heating) to the test
temperature and pulling to failure;
7. Heating up to 1440 °C, cooling to 700 °C, thermome-
chanical cycle with an initial amplitude of 300 °C (10
tensile-compression cycles), cooling (or heating) to the
test temperature and pulling to failure;
8. Heating up to 1440°C, cooling to 700 °C, thermome-
chanical cycle with an initial amplitude of 300 °C (10
tensile-compression cycles), cooling (or heating) to the
test temperature and pulling to failure.
The value of elastic modulus in ductility trough
temperature range was investigated in this study. It is
known that an exact measurement of the elastic modulus
at high temperatures using mechanical tests is accom-
panied by experimental difficulties. Therefore in this
present study such investigation was carried out on
Gleeble 3800 system. The force was measured by 20 kN
strain gage, the strain was measured using longitudinal
(gage length of 12 mm) and cross section (gage length
of 10 mm) strain gages. Since the yield strengths ry
were experimentally determined in the previous experi-
ments to define the ultimate strain, the loads for the
specimens were chosen to be equal to the 0.3ry at each
temperature. Specimens were held for 60 s at the test
temperature.
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The strain hardening was studied by Gleeble 3800 sys-
tem. Specimens were heated up to the temperature range of
700–1100 °C and pulled to failure with strain rate 10-3 and
10-1 s-1.
Microstructural analysis and fractography were con-
ducted with TESCAN Mira-3 SEM and optical microscope
Carl Zeiss.
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Analysis of Hot Ductility Temperature-
Dependence
Figure 2a–c show temperature-dependence of ductility for
the specimens treated according to schedules 1–8. There
are temperature regions in each plot where the ductility
values are significantly lower than the maximum values.
The temperature range where w B 50% is considered as a
ductility trough [3].
Analysis of the plots shows that ductility troughs
become deeper and wider when the treatment schedules
become more complicated (see Fig. 2a):
1. The minimum depth of ductility trough (wmin = 35%)
and the minimum temperature range of ductility trough
(minimum ductility temperature Tmin = 900 °C) are
detected for the specimens treated according to
schedule 1.
2. The nominally second place in ductility trough is
occupied by the specimens heated up to 1440 °C,
cooled to test temperature and pulled to failure at
various temperatures (wmin = 35%, Tmin = 800 °C,
schedule 2).
3. The nominally third place in ductility trough is
occupied by the specimens heated up to 1440 °C,
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Fig. 2 The hot ductility of the investigated steels: temperature-dependence of ductility for a X42 steel, b S355 steel, c X70 steel, d the total
stress amplitude induced in the specimens by thermal and deformation cycles in schedules 6–8, e steel ductility for the regime simulating the slab
rolling in a 2000 rolling mill from 250 mm thickness [5]

subjected to thermomechanical cycle with a damping
amplitude of 300–100 °C and minimum temperature
of 900 °C (specimen temperature is not lower than
ferrite transformation temperature, schedule 3).
Plots No 1–3 have a narrow ductility trough and belong to
the first set of curves, which describe the steel ductility. More
severe treatment conditions of specimens (schedules 4–8)
have been conducted with cyclic austenite-ferrite transfor-
mation, which has been accompanied by volume change.
Plots No 4–8 belong to the second set of curves. The tem-
perature range of ductility trough for these plots is wider
(800–1200 °C) than for the first set. As in the first set of plots,
ductility starts to rise at the phase transformation tempera-
ture, which corresponds to the temperature 710–760 °C for
this steel (as measured on the Gleeble 3800 system for the
cooling rates 1–10 °C/s). Ductility begins to drop signifi-
cantly at a tensile test temperature of 1300 °C.
Analysis of the second set of plots shows the following:
1. The ductility trough is less pronounced at the thermo-
mechanical cycle amplitude of 150 °C. The ductility
trough becomes deeper and wider when the thermal
cycle amplitude increases to 300–100 °C
(wmin = 17%). When the number of tension-
compression thermal cycles increases from 5 to 10,
ductility trough expands up.
2. The ductility trough becomes wider when a deforma-
tion cycle is added to a thermal cycle. The thermal
stresses in a tensile-compression cycle are partly
compensated by the stresses of a deformation cycle
(Fig. 2d). The stresses of thermal and deformation
cycles are measured by the C-gage of Gleeble.
3. The ductility trough further widens when a compres-
sion-tensile cycle is used as a deformation cycle. In
this case, the stresses of deformation cycle are added to
the thermal stresses (see Fig. 2d).
Similar dependences are also obtained for the S355 and
X70 steel (see Fig. 2b, c).
It is interesting to note that the ductility trough disap-
pears in the deformed metal when the austenite grain size
significantly decreases. Physical simulation of the hot
rolling of pipeline steel sheets (4.8 and 15.8 mm thickness)
on mill 2000 was carried out on Gleeble 3800 system [5].
The simulation was performed by «tension-compression»
technique [15, 30–32], simulating rolling with certain
thermo-mechanical parameters. In order to determine the
metal ductility during hot rolling, experiments were

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Fig. 3 Fractures of the
specimens tested according to
the schedules §3 and §7, 700 800
pipeline steel X42
ψ=65%. ψ=24%.
700 800
ψ=68%. ψ=29%.
interrupted after each pass and specimens were pulled to
failure. Necking w and ultimate strain eu were measured for
each specimen. Consequently the ductility variation was
obtained in series of hot rolling simulation. The received
dependencies are shown in Fig. 2e.
3.2 Microstructural Analysis and Fractography
In the temperature range of ductility trough (Figs. 3, 4), the
fracture is brittle, intergranular. At other temperatures the
fracture is ductile, which confirmes the high ductility of
metal. Thus, fractography confirms the relations between
the fracture type and the metal plasticity.
The damage is accumulated in the form of microcracks
at all the test temperatures (Fig. 5). Microcracks are pre-
sent as a pore without sharp edge in specimens with high
plasticity. In specimens with low plasticity microcracks are
detected with sharp edges. So, plasticity is recovered after
thermal cycles during which, diffusion processes help to
blunt microcracks by means of vacancy migration. These
processes actively occur at temperatures (0.75 7 0.8)
Tmelt. Effect of microcracks becomes minimal at low
temperatures, which are close to ferrite transformation
temperature (Fig. 5d), and the metal ductility increases
significantly.
Figure 6 shows formation, accumulation and develop-
ment of the microcracks occurring along the original
austenite grain boundaries. This phenomenon is detected
away from the fracture. This indicates that microcracks are
formed during the preprocessing. Crack edges are active
during tensile tests. Cracks form and develop during tensile
test at a temperature of 1200 °C after thermomechanical
2197
S 3
900 1000 1300
ψ=24 %. ψ=49 %. ψ=90 %.
S 7
900 1000 1300
ψ=14 %. ψ=19 %. ψ=68 %.
cycle, which starts at 700 °C (Fig. 6a). If thermomechan-
ical cycle starts at the temperature 900 °C, intergranular
cracks appear during tensile test at the temperature Ttest B
1100 °C. At a lower test temperature, cracks develop along
grain boundaries with xenomorphic ferrite (Fig. 6d) which
precipitate during the final cooling to room temperature. At
the test temperature of 700 °C, intergranular cracks are not
detected.
According to some authors, the increase in ductility after
the trough is due to the dynamic recrystallization. However
there is no dynamic recrystallization feature on the curves
r(e) or on the steel microstructures.
Various papers reported about the role of the initial
austenite grain boundaries and nonmetallic precipitates
for ductility trough formation. However, some
researchers have a different opinion regarding the causes
of ductility trough. According to Presnyakov et al. [20],
ductility trough depth of pure iron (99.99%) is greater
than the ductility trough depth of non-pure iron. They
anticipated that red brittleness and blue brittleness of
iron are associated with polymorphic transformation,
whereas precipitates only provoke the development of
ductility trough.
It is considered that sulfur is the primary reason for the
development of the red brittleness in iron. The negative
influence of sulfur is usually blocked by manganese. It is
generally accepted that the red brittleness is absent at a
weight ratio Mn/S = 60. Aluminum in the presence of
nitrogen exerts an effect on ductility close to sulfur [19]. If
the nitrogen content decreases to 0.002 wt%, the ductility
trough, which has been induced by AlN precipitated
located along the grain boundaries, disappears. According
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Fig. 4 Microstructures of the

tested specimens a schedule 8,
Ttest = 700 °C, b schedule 8,
Ttest = 1000 °C, c schedule 8,
Ttest = 1300 °C (SEM),
d schedule 7, Ttest = 1300 °C
(OM)

Fig. 5 The fractures on

longitudinal section of the
specimens a schedule 3, Ttest =
1300 °C, b schedule 3, Ttest =
1100 °C, c schedule 7, Ttest =
1000 °C (ductility trough),
d schedule 7, Ttest = 700 °C

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Fig. 6 Formation and
development of intergranular
cracks in pipeline steels X42
during thermomechanical cycles
a schedule 7, Ttest = 1200 °C,
b schedule 3, Ttest = 1100 °C,
c schedule 7, Ttest = 1000 °C,
d schedule 3, Ttest= 700 °C
to [19] the impurity atoms such as Cu, As and Sn exert the
same influence at T = 900–1000 °C.
Thus, ductility trough exists in the temperature range
900–1000 °C, regardless of the precipitate type. However,
any types of thermal cycle decreases the ductility. There-
fore, as shown in [19, 20], ductility trough in iron and steels
can be caused by the nature of iron, e.g., polymorphism.
But it is important to understand as to how the polymor-
phism affects the ductility of steel and pure iron.
3.3 The Elastic Modulus in the Temperature Range
of Ductility Trough
As is known, A ? F polymorphic transformation changes
the type of crystal lattice, the coordination number, the
atomic volume and the bond energy in the crystal lattice.
To a first approximation, the metallic bonding energy w0
has mainly an electrostatic character. This energy is
determined by the difference between the repulsive force of
ions and the attraction of ions. So the bonding energy can
be determined by the relation:
!
1 z2 z2 0:41z2
w0 ¼  pffiffiffi ¼ ; ð1Þ
4pe0 a a= 2 4pe0 a
where z—the particle charge, e0—the electric constant,
1/4pe0 = 9109 N m2/C, a—the average interatomic
distance.
According to [33, 34], elastic modulus E reflects the
bonding energy in the unit volume. According to Helm-
holtz equation [35], stress r is the partial derivative of the
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energy change in volume v. As a result, the elastic modulus
can be found from the relation:
oW oðw0 nÞ oðw0 vÞ w0
Er¼ ¼ ¼ ¼
ov ov v0 ov v0
w0 qNA
¼ ; ð2Þ
l
where W = w0n—the sum of the atomic bonding w0 in
volume v, n—the number of atomic bonds in volume
v (n = v/v0), v0—the atomic volume or the volume per
interatomic bond, v0 = l/qNA, l—the molar mass, q—the
density of the material, NA—Avogadro constant.
According to (2), r [0 if w0 \ 0. Therefore, the exis-
tence of a system in the form of separated ions and elec-
trons is energetically favorable. Let us estimate Dr for,
e.g., copper. Using (2) and the following values:
w0 = 7.8 eV = 7.81.610-19 J & 12.5 J (w0 is taken as the
ionization potential), q = 8.9103 kg/m3, l = 63.510-3 -
kg/mol, and NA = 6.021023 atoms/mol; we obtain
E = 10.51010 Pa = 105 GPa. Thus, the stress of atomic
bonding in the crystal lattice is numerically equal to the
elastic modulus of the metal (according to experimental
data for copper, E = 102–130 GPa). To calculate the
stresses of bonding divalent (or more) metals, the double
(or more) ionization potential should be taken as w0 in the
calculation (see Eq. 1). The Helmholtz condition and the
statement that atoms in a crystal are bound by the stresses
that are numerically equal to the elastic modulus (in a
simplified form, E = –DW/Dv), allow us to derive inter-
esting relation. Let DW be the sum of all interatomic
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interaction energies in volume Dv. From elasticity theory
and acoustics, it is well known that the elastic modulus is
associated with the speed of sound by the following rela-
tion C2s = E/q, where Cs is the speed of sound and q is the
density. Then the total energy of the interatomic bonds in
an atom is
DWR ¼ EDv ¼ qDvCs2 ¼ mCs2 ; ð3Þ
where m = qDv—molar mass of the system. Interestingly,
equation (3) is analogous in appearance to the well-known
Einstein relation, that relates energy to the speed of light in
vacuum. Negative sign in (3) shows that the total interac-
tion energy is lower than zero and the state of the system is
energetically favorable.
According to (2), change in elastic modulus should
reflect the change in the atomic volume v0 (e.g., due to
thermal dilatation) and the variation in the bonding energy
is induced by the difference in the atomic numbers z. Thus,
if ductility trough of iron-based alloy is related to the iron
polymorphism, this relationship should inevitably be
reflected on the temperature dependence of the elastic
modulus. However, the authors of certain classical works
presume that the temperature dependence of the elastic
modulus is only determined by the temperature induced
changes of the interatomic distance [33].
Figure 7a–d show the temperature-elastic modulus
curves for the cast and deformed steel. Note that these
curves have a qualitative character. The experimental
conditions are identical to schedule 1 for the hot ductility
tests (see Fig. 2a–c). It follows from Fig. 7a–d and
Fig. 2a–c that elastic modulus, which is determined by
longitudinal strain gage, increases in the temperature range
of ductility trough.
Such a temperature dependence of elastic modulus of
iron has been noted by Köster [36], whose works have been
retrospectively described in [37] (Fig. 7e). According to
[36], E(T) dependence has a characteristic ‘‘jump’’ near
polymorphic transformation temperature and this depen-
dence drops sharply before this ‘‘jump’’. This elastic
modulus ‘‘jump’’ is accompanied by temperature hystere-
sis. The cause of this phenomenon has not been discussed
in [36]. Bernshtein et al. [38] noted that the elastic modulus
‘‘jump’’ in iron at 910 °C can be significant and exceed the
temperature induced change. Elastic modulus behavior is
related to the structural transformations in a material,
namely, polymorphic transformations in pure metals and
phase transformations in alloys.
This anomaly in iron and steels can be caused by the
closeness of the temperatures of the polymorphic and
magnetic transformations. The magnetic transformation is
accompanied by the ordering of magnetic moments.
Transformation of crystal and electron structures can lead
to the formation of additional resonance covalent bond,
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Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(8):2193–2204
which has been introduced by Pauling for transition metals
[39]. He assumed that (n–1) electrons of the d orbital are
distributed between atomic and bonding shells. Electrons
of atomic orbitals, bound with the neighboring atoms and
determine the magnetic properties. The electrons, which
are located at binding orbitals, are subjected to form
covalent bonds (via hybridization with ns- and np- orbi-
tals), which resonate between the large numbers of bond
directions [33]. As is seen from Fig. 7a–d, elastic modulus
decreases in the cross section direction and increases in the
longitudinal direction. This fact indicates the anisotropy of
the elastic modulus, which is characteristic of covalent
bonds.
The experimental results shown in Fig. 7a–d can be very
important, since all computer programs that are applied to
calculate the stress state in a metal use smooth
E(T) dependence.
Elastic modulus is the fundamental characteristic of the
metal because it describes the atomic bonding energy. The
correlation between the ductility and the elastic modulus
can be described by the relation [41]:
 b11
Ei
eui ¼ eu0 ; ð4Þ
E0
where the initial conditions are marked by index ‘‘0’’ and
other condition are marked by ‘‘i’’; eu = -ln(1 - W)—
ultimate strain; b—strengthening coefficient at the
approximation of stress-strain curve r(e) = ry0 ? aeb. The
experimental value of b can be determined by tensile test.
Thus, as is shown in this work, dependence W(T) is
smooth, if there is no inflections on curve E(T). Figure 7f
shows the calculated and the experimental dependences of
W(T). The calculated curve is obtained from (4) using the
data from Fig. 7a–d. As seen from Fig. 7f, the calculated
dependence is in good agreement with the experimental data.
3.4 Strain Hardening in the Temperature Range
of the Elastic Modulus Jump
The obtained temperature dependence E(T) is confirmed by
studying the strain hardening of S355 steel at various
temperatures and strain rates. Strain hardening mechanisms
are proportional to the elastic properties, e.g., hardening
due to the change of dislocation density
pffiffiffi
ry ¼ ry0 þ Gb q; ð5Þ
where ry and ry0—the current and initial yield strengths,
respectively, G ¼ E=2ð1 þ mÞ—shear modulus, m—Poisson
ratio, b—Burgers vector and q—dislocation density.
Therefore, the strain hardening is expected to be higher at
temperatures corresponding to increasing elastic modulus,
which also simultaneously represents ductility trough tem-
peratures. High hardening is an anomalous phenomenon that
Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(8):2193–2204 2201

Fig. 7 The hot ductility of investigated steels: Temperature dependences of the elastic modulus of a, c pipeline steel X42 and b, d S355 a, b as
cast and c, d deformed that were measured using (1) longitudinal and (2) transverse strain gages, respectively e temperature-elastic modulus
curves for iron, cobalt, manganese, annealed nickel and saturable-core nickel and oscillation decrement d [36] (1 heating, 2 cooling),
f dependence of hot ductility on temperature for X42 steel 1 calculated data, 2 experimental data

should be explained from the point of view of drop in duc-
tility in the temperature range under study.
Figure 8a, b shows the curves r(e) which are plotted in
the temperature range 700–1100 °C. All experimental
curves have been converted into dimensionless curves with
respect to the yield strength in order to clearly reveal the
temperature dependence of the strain hardening.
As expected, the maximum strain hardening is
obtained at ductility trough temperature (when elastic
modulus is higher), for both the strain rates, 10-3 s-1
and for 1 s-1.
The metal hardening at the deformation temperature
of 900 °C and the strain rate of 1 s-1 is so high, that
deformation is accompanied by the formation of two
symmetric necks at some distance from the central
section of the specimen (Fig. 8c). The same result for
steel with carbon content 0.05% at temperature 850 °C
has been obtained in [40] but formation of two necks has
not been discussed.
There is temperature gradient along the axis of specimen
at the Gleeble test. Both necks at this strain rate occur in
the less heated zone of the specimen where the hardening is
lower (see Fig. 8a, b). Probably, intensive metal hardening
at a high strain rate and an anomalously high elastic
modulus are the reasons for positive influence of the
increase in the strain rate on the steels ductility
[1, 3, 6, 7, 14] (see Fig. 8d). In those works, experiments
also were carried out on a Gleeble system, in which
specimen are heated non-homogeneously along specimen
axis.

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Fig. 8 Strain hardening of investigated specimens: dependence of relative strain hardening ri/ry (ri is the current stress) on strain for S355 steel
at strain rate a 10-3 s-1 and b 1 s-1and a temperature of (1) 700, (2) 800, (3) 900, (4) 1000, and (5) 1100 °C, c specimen geometry after pulling
to failure at temperature 900 °C and strain rate 1 s-1, d dependence of hot ductility on temperature for S355 (schedule 1, strain rate 1 s-1)

Figure 9 shows the panoramic structure of specimen 4 Conclusions

which has been pulled to failure at temperature of 900 °C
and strain rate 1 s-1. Fine-grained ferrite-perlite structure
is formed in the central part of the specimen (region 4),
where Gleeble control system maintains a temperature of
900 °C (see Fig. 9e). The temperatures in other regions are
lower. And ferrite grain size in region 1 is thirty times
more than in region 4 (see Fig. 9b). Anomalous metal
hardening at temperature of 900 °C leads to the dynamic
homogeneous nucleation of ferrite in grain volume, there-
fore grain size reduces.
Thus, results of anomalous metal hardening research
confirm the direct measurements of elastic modulus shown
in Fig. 8.
1. The reason of the ductility trough in iron is the
increase in elastic modulus near the polymorphic and
magnetic transformation temperature. The increase in
the elastic modulus is connected to the hardening in
this temperature range and fracture occurs at low
strains.
2. Thermo cycles during cooling of cast steel in sec-
ondary cooling zone of continuous-casting machine
lead to rise in elastic modulus. It is necessary to
calculate this effect using thermal stress calculation—
r = a(DTE ? TDE).

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Fig. 9 Optical micrographs of
specimen with two necks
a panoramic structure,
b structure of region 1, c region
2, d region 3, e region 4
3. There are two factors which have strong influence on
ductility trough: natural (uncontrollable) factor con-
14.
sists of an increase in elastic modulus, and a structural
(controllable) factor consists of the amount and 15.
distribution of the excess phases, segregations, and
the impurity atoms along the grain boundaries.
4. Grain refinement, removal of impurities, excess of the 16.
phase precipitates located along the grain boundaries
lead to the decrease in the cracking probability and the 17.
increase in the energy of micro crack propagation,
according to the existing concepts of fracture. 18.
19.
Acknowledgements The reported study was funded by RFBR,
according to the research Project No. 16-33-60002 mol_a_dk
20.
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