The influence of deformation in the non-recrystallization region of austenite and cooling rates on the bainitic transformation temperature (Bi) and final microstructure were studied in HSLA low carbon bainitic steel by means of hot torsion tests and accelerated cooling. The samples were submitted to four programs of torsion tests with four accelerated cooling rates for each one. The microstructure change from the cooling rate was studied by scanning electron microscopy and Vickers hardness. The results show that for a 2ºC/s cooling rate, the microstructure is composed of bainite and polygonal ferrite, independent of the deformation degree. For higher cooling rates, the microstructure is predominantly bainitic with a small quantity of fine polygonal ferrite. It was observed that for the same amount of deformation, a higher cooling rate induced a smaller Bi temperature, and this effect is more pronounced in samples without deformation. Otherwise, for the same cooling rate, the higher deformation amount in non-recrystallization region caused a higher Bi temperature.
Deformation amount; non-recrystallization temperature; bainitic transformation kinetics; Bi temperature
