This paper presents results obtained from a laboratory investigation conducted on material from a pressure vessel after longterm operation in the oil refinery industry. The tested material contained structural defects which arose from improper heat treatment during steel plate manufacturing. Complex tensile tests with acoustic emission signal recording were conducted on both notched and unnotched specimens. The detailed analysis of different acoustic emission criteria allowed as to detect each stage of plastic deformation and microstructural damage processes after a long-term operation, and unused carbon steels during quasi-static axial tension testing. The acoustic emission activity, generated in the typical stages of material deformation, was correlated by microscopy observations during the tensile test. The results are to be used as the basis for new algorithms for the assessment of the structural condition of in-service pressure equipment.

This paper presents influence of rare earth metals (REM) on the properties of GP240GH cast carbon steel. The research has been performed on successive industrial melts. Each time ca 2000 kg of liquid metal was modified. The rare earth metals were put into the ladle during tapping of heat melt from the furnace. Because of this the amount of sulphur in the cast steel was decreased and the non-metallic inclusion morphology was significantly changed. It was found that non metallic inclusions the cracking mechanism of Charpy specimens and the impact strength were all changed. The following properties were tested: mechanical properties (σy, σUTS), plastic properties (necking, elongation) and impact strength (SCI). In the three-point bend test the KJC stress intensity factor was evaluated.

The aim of the performed experiments was to determine the influence of deformation and of austenitization temperature on the kinetics of phase transformations during cooling of high-carbon steel (0.728 wt. % C). The CCT and DCCT diagrams for austenitization temperature 940°C and DCCT diagram for austenitization temperature 1000°C were constructed with the use of dilatometric tests. On the basis of obtained results, a featureless effect of austenitization temperature and deformation on the kinetics of phase transformations during cooling of investigated steel was observed. Critical cooling rates for the transformation of martensite in microstructure fluctuated from 5 to 7°C · s–1 (depending on the parameters of austenitization and deformation), but only at cooling rates higher than 8°C · s–1 a dominant share of martensite was observed in the investigated steel, which resulted in the significant increase of hardness.

The corrosion inhibition behaviour of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-methanesulphonate (EMIM[MS]) and 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM[Ac]) on API 5L X-52 carbon steel in 2 M HCl was investigated using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance methods. The corrosion rates of carbon steel decreased in the presence of these ionic liquids. The inhibition efficiencies of the compounds increased with concentration and showed a marginal decrease with a 10°C increase in temperature. Polarization studies showed the compounds to be mixed type inhibitors with stronger anodic character. The adsorption mechanism of both compounds on the metal surface was via physical adsorption and the process obeyed the El-Awardy kinetic-thermodynamic model. The associated activation energy of corrosion and other thermodynamic parameters were calculated to elaborate on the thermodynamics and mechanism of the corrosion inhibition process. EMIM[MS] was found to inhibit the corrosion of carbon steel better than EMIM[Ac] and is attributed to the presence of the highly electronegative sulphur atom in its structure and its larger molecular size.

Nifedipine, a pyridine derivative was investigated as corrosion inhibitor for API 5L X-52 steel in 2 M HCl solution by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. Statistical tools were used to compare results of the experimental methods. The results showed that nifedipine is capable of inhibiting the corrosion of API 5L X-52 steel in 2 M HCl solution. Potentiodynamic polarization results reveal that nifedipine functions as a mixed-type inhibitor and presents an inhibition efficiency of about 78% at 500 ppm. Impedance data reveal an increasing charge transfer resistance with increasing inhibitor concentration and also shows comparable inhibition efficiency of about 89-94% at 500 ppm. Thermodynamic parameters imply that nifedipine is adsorbed on the steel surface by a physiochemical process and obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The calculated molecular properties namely the highest occupied molecular orbital energy, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy, chemical hardness, energy gap, dipole moment, electronegativity and global nucleophilicity index all show a positive relationship to the observed corrosion inhibition efficiency.

The present work has the objective of studying the effect of shot peening with glass microspheres on SAE 1020 steel in its resistance to fatigue. Fatigue tests were carried out by rotary bending with load control and loading on balance in specimens with and without shot peening. A rotation speed of approximately 750 rpm (12.5 Hz) was employed in the fatigue tests. Vickers microhardness tests were performed in order to verify the surface hardening produced by shot peening with glass microspheres. Analysis of the steel surface and fatigue fractures was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fatigue tests were performed in order to obtain S-N curves (Wöhler curves). It was observed that shot peening with glass microspheres improved the fatigue strength of the steel at high cycle.

In this investigation the surface of an aluminized sample of plain carbon steel was melted and alloyed using a tingsten inert gas (TIG) welding process to produce iron-aluminide intermetallic phases on the surface. The produced coating was then characterized by SEM and EDS and its high-temperature properties in O2 + 1%SO2 gas were examined. The results showed that the Fe3Al coating produced could protect the substrate as it was subjected to the corroding gases at 700oC due to the formation of an alumina layer between the substrate and an outer layer of Fe2O3. At 900oC, the coating could only protect the substrate for 64 h. The lack of further protection at this temperature is attributed to the decrease in the protective properties of alumina with an increase in its temperature and the lack of presence of enough Al atoms in the coating for the repair of the defects formed in the alumina layer.

Carbon steel is one of the most widely used alloys in many industries, however, its use is limited by its low corrosion resistance. Depositing a layer of phosphate on its surface improves the corrosion resistance as well as other properties, such as wear resistance, adhesion etc. Accordingly, preliminary studies demonstrated that carbon steel coated with phosphate layers can be used in the manufacture of carabiners for various fields: civil engineering, oil industry etc. Whereas, to demonstrate their capacity to operate in severe conditions related to fire rescue and extinguishing operations, it is necessary to evaluate the thermal behaviour of these materials. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to study the behaviour at high temperatures of three different types of phosphate layers deposited on carbon steel surface, by STA analysis. Also, the paper aims to study the formation of different phosphate layers by determining the types of compounds formed after the completion of the phosphating process, by XRD analysis.

In this study, the effect of rolling of 1.25Cr-1Mo-0.5V-0.3C American Iron and Steel Institute 4340 modified steel for highspeed railway brake discs on the microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated. The materials were hot-rolled at 0%, 51%, and 66% reduction ratios, and then analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD). needle-shaped ferrite block morphology in bainite varied with the rolling ratio. EBSD analysis reveals dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization, affected ferrite block boundaries and dislocation densities during rolling. Mechanical tests showed that hardness, toughness and elongation increase at higher rolling reduction ratio, while strength remained relatively constant. In particular, the impact toughness increased almost twice from the level of 70 J in S1 (0% reduction) to the level of 130 J in S3 (66% reduction). These results showed that the hot rolling can significantly improve the strength and toughness combination of cast brake discs material.

The influence of external factors, temperature and flow velocity on the corrosion processes St3 in model solutions petrochemical plant recycled water with high salinity and hardness without open systems and in the presence of the inhibiting composition. It was found that an increase in temperature leads to a linear increase in corrosion rates, and the change in circulating water flow rate leads to the extreme nature of corrosion processes; optimal conditions are determined. Recommended use of cathodic inhibitors or mixed type inhibitor, in particular, the composition "SVOD-BI" (means for controlling the biological corrosion), which can significantly reduce the effect of temperature and flow on the corrosion rate St3, promotes the growth and strengthening of the oxide film in the presence of oxygen, increases the degree of protection of steel and preventing the formation of at its surface carbonate-calcium deposits.

Hot Isostatic Pressing elaboration of Norem02, an austenitic-ferritic hypereutectoid stainless steel, leads to the formation of an austenitic matrix with a mixture of acicular M7C3 and globular M23C6 carbides. The sintering tests, carried out by using an AISI 304L container, showed that the final microstructure and the carbides’ distribution of the HIPed Norem02 are strongly influenced by the process parameters (heating and cooling rate, sintering time, holding temperature and pressure) and by the particles’ size, microstructure and phase distribution of the initial powder. The morphological, crystallographic and chemical analysis of the sintered samples were completed by comprehension of the diffusion phenomena at the Norem02/304L interface, enabling the establishment of a correlation between elaboration process and final microstructure.

In this paper small punch test (SPT) which is one of miniaturized samples technique, was employed to characterize the mechanical properties of carbon steel P110. The tests were carried out in the range of –175°C to RT. Results obtained for SPT were compared to those calculated for tensile and Charpy impact test. Based on tensile and SPT parameters numerical model was prepared. 8 mm in diameter and 0.8 mm in height (t) discs with and without notch were employed in this research. The specimens had different depth notch (a) in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 mm. It was estimated that α factor for comparison of Tsp and DBTT for carbon steel P110 is 0.55 and the linear relation is DBTT = 0.55TSPT. The numerical model fit with force – deflection curve of SPT. If the factor of notch depth and samples thickness is higher than 0.3 the fracture mode is transformed from ductile to brittle at –150°C.

In this study, medium-carbon steel was subjected to warm deformation experiments on a Gleeble 3500 thermosimulator machine at temperatures of 550°C and 650°C and strain rates of 0.001 s–1 to 1 s–1. The warm deformation behavior of martensite and the effects of strain rate on the microstructure of ultrafine grained medium-carbon steel were investigated. The precipitation behavior of Fe3C during deformation was analyzed and the results showed that recrystallization occurred at a low strain rate. The average ultrafine ferrite grains of 500 ± 58 nm were fabricated at 550°C and a strain rate of 0.001 s–1. In addition, the size of Fe3C particles in the ferrite grains did not show any apparent change, while that of the Fe3C particles at the grain boundaries was mainly affected by the deformation temperature. The size of Fe3C particles increased with the increasing deformation temperature, while the strain rate had no significant effect on Fe3C particles. Moreover, the grain size of recrystallized ferrite decreased with an increase in the strain rate. The effects of the strain rate on the grain size of recrystallized ferrite depended on the deformation temperature and the strain rate had a prominent effect on the grain size at 550°C deformation temperature. Finally, the deformation resistance apparently decreased at 550°C and strain rate of 1 s–1 due to the maximum adiabatic heating in the material.

A hot compression test was conducted on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine to study the critical conditions and kinetics of dynamic recrystallization in a high-carbon tool steel. The critical conditions for the initiation of dynamic recrystallization were determined using the working-hardening theory. The quantitative relationship between the critical characteristics of dynamic recrystallization and the hot deformation parameters were elucidated based on two different methods:the apparent method and physically based method. It was found that the two methods both have high applicability for the investigated steel, but the physically-based method needs less parameters and makes it possible to study the effect of different factors. A dynamic recrystallization kinetics model was used to calculate the recrystallization volume fraction under different conditions. The calculation results matched well with the data obtained from the flow curves.