Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagram and Properties of Hot Forming Steel

Continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagram of steel 22MnB5 was studied using dilatometer method. The influence of the hot forming process parameters, such as the heating temperature and holding time on the mechanical properties and microstructure of stamped parts was analyzed by tensile tests and the metallographic observation on the parts with various processing parameters. The microstructural evolution obtained from the dilatometer samples reveals that the cooling rates not smaller than 20K/s induced fully martensitic microstructure. As the cooling rate decreasing, more ferrite and pearlite or more bainitic microstructure forms. Tensile tests results show an excellent tensile strength and ductility combination of 22MnB5. The tensile strength and yield strength reach 1500MPa and 1200MPa respectively, with total elongation of around 10%.