The role of molybdenum additions and prior deformation on acicular ferrite formation in microalloyed Nb–Ti low-carbon line-pipe steels

Microstructures in Nb–Ti-microalloyed line-pipe steels with various molybdenum additions, consisted mostly of acicular ferrite plus polygonal ferrite after hot rolling and rapid cooling. Structure-sensitive surface relief after etching on shadowed extraction replicas, allowed quantification of the acicular and polygonal ferrite contents. Continuous cooling transformation diagrams of two alloys, one Mo-free and the other containing 0.22% Mo, were determined for cooling rates from 0.1 to 40 °C s− 1 without and with prior deformation of the austenite below the nil-recrystallisation temperature. Molybdenum additions slightly enhanced the acicular ferrite formation in the strain-free austenite whereas prior deformation had a much greater effect, and strongly promoted acicular ferrite formation in both alloys. Thin foil electron microscopy of acicular ferrite in these low-inclusion content alloys showed a preference for parallel acicular ferrite laths with less “chaotically” nucleated laths.