Effect of Cr and Mo on strain ageing behaviour of low carbon steel

This work explores the effects of Cr (0.26–0.74 wt%) and Mo (0.09–0.3 wt%) additions on the kinetics of strain ageing process in low carbon steel. The strain ageing behaviour of the steels was investigated by using tensile tests and transmission electron microscopy. The results have shown that Mo-alloyed steels undergo the same four stages of ageing as unalloyed low carbon steel, whereas Cr-alloyed steels exhibit only three stages of ageing. At the same time, the addition of Mo accelerates the ageing response, while alloying with Cr reduces the rate of strain ageing by ∼3 times in comparison with non-alloyed low carbon steel. It especially delays the offset of Stage III. This is explained by the reduction of carbon content in ferrite due to the enrichment of cementite with Cr leading to the reduction of its equilibrium solubility in ferrite.