CONTINUOUS CASTING PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LOW CARBON STEEL STRIPS AND STRIPS SO OBTAINABLE WITH GOOD AS CAST MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract: A process for the production of low carbon steel strips having a good combination of strength an formability, as cast, and a good weldability after the pickling by usual processes, comprising the following steps: casting, in a twin rolls continuous casting machine (1) comprising pinch rolls (3), a strip with a thickness comprised between 1 and 8 mm, having the following composition as weight percentage of the total weight: C 0.02-0.10; Mn 0.1-0.6; Si 0.02-0.35; Al 0.01-0.05; S<0.015; P<0.02; Cr 0.05-0.35; Ni 0.05-0.3; N 0.003-0.012; and, optionally, Ti<0.03; V<0.10; Nb<0.035, the remaining part being substantially Fe; cooling the strip in the area comprised between the casting-rolls and the pinch rolls (3); hot deforming the strip cast through said pinch rolls (3) at a temperature comprised between 1000 and 1300 DEG C until reaching a thickness reduction less than 15 %, in order to encourage the closing of the shrinkage porosities; cooling the strip at a speed comprised between 5 and 80 DEG C/s down to a temperature (Tavv) comprised between 500 and 850 DEG C; and coiling into a reel (5) the so obtainable strip.

Description: CONTINUOUS CASTING PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LOW CARBON STEEL STRIPS AND STRIPS SO OBTAINABLE WITH GOOD AS CAST MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DESCRIPTION The present invention refers to a process for the production of low carbon steel strips, having a good combination of strength and cold formability, as cast. Different methods for producing carbon steel strips through twin roll continuous casting devices are already known. These methods aim at the production of carbon steel strips having good properties of strength and ductility. In particular, in EP 0707908 Al a twin roll continuous casting apparatus is shown and wherein a carbon steel strip is cast, for then undergoing in a hot rolling line with a 50-70% reduction of its thickness and being successively cooled. The flat thin product so obtained has good properties of strength and ductility thanks to the reduction in the grain dimension obtained with the hot rolling. From WO 95/13155 an in line thermical treatment for cast carbon steel strips aiming at the control of a strip microstructure as cast is shown. In particular, the cast strip is cooled below the temperature wherein the transformation of austenite into ferrite occurs and successively heated until the material is riaustenitized (in line normalizing) . In this way, for the effect of a double transformation phase into solid phase, the austenitic grains become thinner, and by controlling the conditions of the final cooling and of the coiling of the strip it is possible to develop quite thin structures having good strength and ductility. However, the above mentioned processes require further installations and higher energy consumption (e.g. rolling lines, furnace for intermediate heating etc.) and usually require a larger space, and therefore less unity of the whole installation from the casting machine to the coiling reel. Furthermore, the object of the processes aim at the thickness of the final structure of the strip, trying to make it as similar as possible to that of a hot rolled strip from a conventional cycle, and they do not teach how to obtain a product with the desired mechanical and technological properties, by exploiting the peculiarities of the phase transformation features for the as cast steels with big austenitic grain (usually 150-400 mm) . Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a process for the production of low carbon steel strips having, as cast, a good combination of strength and ductility and a good weldability, without undergoing rolling and/or thermical cycles stages. Another object of the present invention is to provide a carbon steel strip which has, as cast, improved mechanical properties, in particular a relatively low yield/fracture stress ratio and a continuous pattern of the tension-strain curve, in order to make the material particularly suitable for cold molding applications such as bending and drawing. Therefore, an object of the present invention is a process for the production of low carbon steel strips having a good combination of strength and formability, as cast, and a good weldability after the pickling by usual processes, comprising the following steps: casting, in a twin rolls continuous casting machine comprising pinch rolls, a strip with a thickness comprised between 1 and 8 mm, having the following composition as weight percentage of the total weight: C 0,02-0,10; Mn 0,1-0,6; Si 0,02-0,35; Al 0,01-0,05; S<0,015; P<0,02; Cr 0,05-0,35; Ni 0,05-0,3; N 0,003- 0,012; and, optionally, Ti<0,03; V<0,10; Nb<0.035, the remaining part being substantially Fe; - cooling the strip in the area comprised between the casting-rolls and the pinch rolls; - hot deforming the strip cast through said pinch rolls at a temperature comprised between 1000 and 1300 °C until reaching a thickness reduction less than 15%, in order to encourage the closing of the shrinkage porosities; - cooling the strip at a speed comprised between 5 and 80 °C/s down to a temperature comprised between 500 and 850 °C; and - coiling in to a reel the so obtainable strip. In the process of the present invention, the phase transformation features of coarse grain austenite, which formed during the continuous casting process without performing hot rolling and/or in line normalizing, are exploited to produce by a controlled cooling and coiling, predetermined volume divisions of the microstructure constituents in the material as cast in low carbon steels. These final microstructures, constituted by equiaxed ferrite, acicular ferrite and/or bainite, provide a typical stress-strain diagram, of the material, with a continuous pattern, having an improved deformability as to make the strip particularly suitable for the applications in cold molding. Another object of the present invention are also the low carbon steel strips obtainable by the abovementioned process. These strips have low segregation, predetermined mixed microstructures containing acicular ferrite and/or bainite, which can provide a low yield/fracture stress ratio and a continuous pattern of the tension-strain curve of the material, as well as a good weldability after the pickling. The present invention will be described herebelow according to a present embodiment thereof, given as a non-limiting example. Reference will be made to the figures in the annexed drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a simplified scheme of the twin roll continuous casting machine for thin strips and of the controlled cooling areas of the strips, according to the present invention; figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the in line cooling cycles applied to as cast strips; figure 3 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a first type of an as cast steel strip cooled according to the present invention; figure 4 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a second type of as cast steel strip, cooled according to the present invention; figure 5 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a third type of as cast steel strip, cooled according to the present invention; figure 6 (a) is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of a ferrite of the acicular type in particular obtained in a strip according to the present invention; figure 6 (b) is a photographic illustration at the electron microscope of a particular of the ferrite of the acicular type obtained in a strip according to the present invention; figure 7 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a second type of as cast steel strip, cooled according to the present invention; figure 8 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a third type of as cast strip steel, cooled according to the present invention; figure 9 is a photographic illustrations at the optical microscope of the microstructure of a fourth type of steel strip produced with a traditional cycle; figure 10 is a tensile stress diagram of a strip of a type of steel ; figure 11 is a photographic illustration at the optical microscope of the microstructure of as cast steel strip, produced according to the process of present invention; figure 12 is a diagram of the tensile stress diagram in a continuous pattern of an as cast steel strip obtained according to the process of the present invention; figures 13 (a) and 13 (b) are diagrams representing the weldability lobes of two types of pickled steel strips obtained according to the process of the present invention; and figure 14 is a diagram representing the weldability lobes of a pickled low carbon steel strip obtained with a conventional cycle. With reference to figure 1, the process of the present invention provides the use of a twin rolls continuous casting apparatus 1. Immediately downstream the rolls 1, two cooling devices 2a and 2b for a controlled cooling of the strip continuously passing therebetween are provided. Successively to the abovementioned two cooling devices, pinch rolls 3 of an already known structure are provided. At the outlet of the pinch rolls 3, a final modular cooling device 4 wherein the strip passes through to reach a coiling device 5 is provided. During the solidification and the extraction from the casting device 1, the strip is subjected to a suitable controlled pressure by acting on the counterotating twin rolls, as to limit the formation of shrinkage porosities. Then, the cast strip undergoes water cooling or mixed water-gas cooling on both sides to slow the increase of growth of both the austenitic grains and the superficial oxides layers. By using the pinch rolls, the thickness is reduced to less than 15% at a temperature varying between 1000 and 1300 °C to close the porosities due to shrinkage at acceptable dimensions. The cooling cycles of the as cast steel strips are set by acting on casting speed, water flows and number of active cooling areas. The final cooling cycle, after the pinch rolls 3, is defined on the basis of the phase transformation features of the steels, which depend mostly on the initial dimensions of the austenitic grains, and from the contents of C, Mn and Cr, in order to obtain the desired structures. Various laboratory and full scale implantations trials were carried out, using steels whose composition was defined as follows : C 0,02-0,10; Mn 0,1-0,6; Si 0,02-0,35; Al 0,01-0,05; S<0,015; P<0,02; Cr 0,05-0,35; Ni 0,05-0,3; N 0,003- 0,012; Ti<0,03; V<0,10; Nb<0.035, the remaining part being substantially Fe . From these trials it was evident that by controlling the chemical analysis of the steel and the in line cooling modes, it is possible to develop suitable final microstructures, characterized by definite fractions in volume of equiaxed ferrite and of acicular ferrite and/or bainite. The different division of the microstructure constituents so obtained, gives to the as cast strips different combinations of strength, ductility and cold formability, that can be evaluated through the stress and the Erichsen trials. In particular, the inventors evaluated the properties connected with the formation of acicular ferrite or bainite structures, characterized by a high density of dislocations, compared with the traditional structures of polygonal thin grain ferrite. According to the process of the present invention, on a low carbon steel strip, as cast, different types of structures and properties can be obtained, and such properties for each different type can be summarized as follows (the following capital letters mean different types of carbon steels) : A) Predominance of equiaxed ferrite acicular ferrite and/or bainite: <20% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: .>70% in volume perlite: 2-10% in volume yield stress: Rs = 180-250 MPa fracture stress: Rm . 280 MPa Rs/Rm ratio <. 0.75 total elongation: >. 30% Erichsen index: .> 12 mm B) Mixed structure of equiaxed and acicular ferrite acicular ferrite and/or bainite: 20-50% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: <80% in volume perlite: <2% in volume yield stress: Rs = 200-300 MPa fracture stress: Rm ≥ 300 MPa Rs/Rm ratio = <. 0.75 total elongation: > . 28% Erichsen index: 11 mm C) Predominance of acicular ferrite-bainite acicular ferrite and/or bainite: > 50% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: < 50% in volume perlite: <2% in volume yield stress: Rs = 210-320 MPa fracture stress: Rm > 330 MPa Rs/Rm ratio <. 0.8 total elongation: > . 22% Erichsen index: . 10 mm It was found out that C, Mn and Cr, in the weight concentrations defined in the scope of the present invention, and austenitic grains whose dimensions are more than 150 μm, as well as a cooling speed of > 10 °C/s in the temperature interval 750-480 °C, encourage the formation of non equiaxed ferrite. Further trials conducted according to the process described in the present invention showed that it is possible to exploit the larger distribution and concentration uniformity of the alloy components in cast strips with a high solidification speed (low entity of the segregation) in order to homogenize the distribution of the microstructures and to avoid the formation of undesired structures, of the martenistic type, reducing the ductility and the formability of the material. Furthermore, the inventors discovered that the energic cooling of the cast strip is effective to obtain a superficial oxide scale whose thickness and nature are such as to be removed, using the traditional pickling processes. Through point welding trials of pickled strips specimen, ' obtained with the process of the present invention, it was positively checked the weldability of the materials, that, as it is well known, is strongly influenced by the superficial condition of the sheets- steel. Furthermore, the inventors observed how the addition of elements such as vanadium and niobium, increased the hardenability of austenite and delayed the formation of equiaxed ferrite, easeing the development of acicular ferrite and bainite. Furthermore, niobium and titanium, forming carbon-nitrides, inhibit the dimensional growth of the austenitic grains in high temperature heating processes, ensuring, for example, a better ductility in the thermically altered area of a welding. The present illustrative and comparative examples of microstructures and properties of strips obtained both by the process of the present invention and with conventional technologies, will be described herebelow given as a non-limiting example. For clearness sake, the tables mentioned in the following examples are illustrated all together after the last example (Example n° 4) . EXAMPLE 1 Some cast strips having a thickness comprised between 2.2 and 2.4 mm were obtained according to the process of the present invention, by using the A type steel (as above already disclosed) , whose analysis is reported in table 1. The liquid steel was cast in a vertical twin roll continuous casting machine (figure 1) and by using an average separating stress of 40 t/m. The strips were cooled at the outlet of the casting machine until they reached a temperature of 1210-1170 °C at the proximity of the pinch rolls 3. A these temperatures the thickness was reduced by about 10%. Successively, the cooling was modulated, as it is schematically indicated in figure 2, to have a cooling speed comprised between 10 and 40 °C/s in the interval comprised between 950 °C and the coiling temperature. The latter was made variable between 780 and 580 °C. The main cooling and coiling conditions are shown in table 2, together with some microstructure features of the produced strips. The mechanical properties of the strips concerning the yield stress Rs, defined as ReL or Rp0.2 (depending if the yield is continuous or discontinuous), the fracture stress, Rm, the Rs/Rm ratio, the total elongation, A%, and the Erichsen index (I.AND.), measure of the cold formability of the materials, are reported in table 3. In figures 3-5, the typical microstructures respectively of the strips coiled at 760-730 °C (strips 9 and 4) and at 580 °C (strip 5) , as observable at the optical microscope, are shown. It is observed how, when the coiling temperature decreases and the average cooling speed of the strip increases, perlite practically disappears and acicular ferrite and/or bainite structures, whose detail is shown in figure 6, develop. Said microstructures lead to a yield of the material of the continuous type (Table. 3) . EXAMPLE 2 Other strips having a thickness of 2.0 - 2.5 mm were obtained with the process of the present invention, by using the B and C types of steel of table 1, having a higher carbon content (0.052% and 0.09%, respectively). The main cooling and coiling conditions are shown in table 4 , together with some microstructure features of the strips so obtained. The mechanical properties of the strips and the Erichsen index, measure of the cold formability of the materials, are reported in table 5. In figures 7 and 8 the typical microstructures respectively of the strips 7 (steel B) and 14 (steel C) , as observed at the optical microscope, are shown. Also in this case, by exploiting the phase transformation features of the coarse austenitic grain steels, it is possible to obtain mixed structures containing equiaxed ferrite and also acicular ferrite and bainite. The strength values are higher than those shown in the example 1, relating to steel having 0.035 % C, and ductility and cold formability remain at good values. In this comparative example, the microstructures and the mechanical properties of a strip having a thickness of 2 mm and obtained with the steel of the D type (table 1) produced with a traditional cycle and comparing with those of a strip as cast, having the same chemical analysis, produced according to the process of the present invention, are reported. Clearly, the microstructure of the traditional strip is constituted by thin grains of polygonal ferrite and by perlite (figure 9) , with a tensile stress diagram of a discontinuous pattern (figure 10) . The typical mechanical properties of this conventional strip are shown in table 6. The use of relatively low coiling temperatures (table 7) , with the process of the present invention allows the use of materials with acicular structures of the type as shown in figure 11, which are characterized by similar values of fracture stress, with a continuous pattern yield diagram (figure 12) , and therefore with a lower yield/fracture stress ratio (table 8) . EXAMPLE 4 Some strips obtained according to the process of the present invention and made by the A and B types of steels, were pickled and underwent weldability trials. The point resistance welding trials were performed with electrodes having a diameter of 8 mm, adopting a stress of 650 kg, and by varying the current. In figures 13a and 13b the diagrams that at the "number of cycles-current intensity" level provide weldability lobes, i.e. the field wherein the steel sheets are weldable without problems, are respectively shown. The comparison with a pickled sheet-steel having similar thickness, in low carbon steel obtained by a conventional production cycle (figure 14), shows how the strips obtained with the process of the present invention keep good weldability features, as to indicate an acceptable superficial state. Table 1 Chemical analysis of the steels used in the examples Table 2 Cooling conditions and final microstructures of the as cast A type of steel strips used in the examples Table 3 Mechanical properties of the as cast A type of steel strips used in the examples Table 4 Cooling conditions and final microstructures in the as cast B and C types of steel strips used in the examples Table 5 Mechanical properties of the B and C types of steel strips as cast Table 6 Mechanical properties of strips from a conventional cycle in the steel D Table 7 Cooling conditions and final microstructures in the D type steel strips as cast and having a thickness of 2 and 4 mm Table 8 Mechanical properties of the D type steel strips as cast

Claims: CLΔIMS 1. A process for the production of low carbon steel strips having a good combination of strength and formability, as cast, and a good weldability after the pickling by usual processes, comprising the following steps : casting, in a twin rolls continuous casting machine (1) comprising pinch rolls (3) , a strip with a thickness comprised between 1 and 8 mm, having the following composition as weight percentage of the total weight : C 0,02-0,10; Mn 0,1-0,6; Si 0,02-0,35; Al 0,01-0,05; S<0,015; P<0,02; Cr 0,05-0,35; Ni 0,05-0,3; N 0,003- 0,012; and, optionally, Ti<0,03; V<0,10; Nb<0.035, the remaining part being substantially Fe; - cooling the strip in the area comprised between the casting-rolls and the pinch rolls (3) ; - hot deforming the strip cast through said pinch rolls (3) at a temperature comprised between 1000 and 1300 °C until reaching a thickness reduction less than 15%, in order to encourage the closing of the shrinkage porosities; - cooling the strip at a speed comprised between 5 and 80 °C/s down to a temperature (Taw) comprised between 500 and 850 °C; and - coiling in to a reel (5) the so obtainable strip. 2. A low carbon as cast steel strip, characterized in that it is obtainable by the process according to claim 1 and in that it has low segregation and predetermined mixed microstructures comprising acicular ferrite and/or bainite, such microstructures providing a low yield/fracture stress ratio and a continuous pattern of the stress-strain diagram of the material, as well as a good weldability after pickling. 3. A low carbon steel strip according to claim 2, having the following final microstructure and mechanical properties : acicular ferrite and/or bainite: <20% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: >.70% in volume perlite: 2-10% in volume yield stress: Rs = 180 - 250 MPa fracture stress: Rm >. 280 MPa Rs/Rm ratio <. 0.75 total elongation: > 30% Erichsen index: . 12 mm 4. A low carbon steel strip according to claim 2, having the following final microstructure and mechanical properties : acicular ferrite and/or bainite: 20-50% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: <80% in volume perlite: <2% in volume yield stress: Rs = 200 - 300 MPa fracture stress: Rm >. 300 MPa Rs/Rm ratio ≤. 0.75 total elongation: >. 28% Erichsen index: _> 11 mm 5. A low carbon steel strip according to claim 2, having the following final microstructure and mechanical properties : acicular ferrite and/or bainite: >50% in volume coarse equiaxed grained ferrite: <50% in volume perlite: <2% in volume yield stress: Rs = 210-350 MPa fracture stress: Rm > 330 MPa Rs/Rm ratio = <. 0.8 total elongation: >. 22% Erichsen index: _> 10 mm

Inventors: ANELLI ETTORE, MASCANZONI ANTONIO, ANELLI, ETTORE, MASCANZONI, ANTONIO
Applicants: ACCIAI SPECIALI TERNI SPA, ANELLI ETTORE, MASCANZONI ANTONIO, VOEST ALPINE IND ANLAGEN, ACCIAI SPECIALI TERNI S.P.A., ANELLI, ETTORE, MASCANZONI, ANTONIO, VOEST-ALPINE INDUSTRIEANLAGENBAU GMBH
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B22D11
IPC codes: B22D11