The effect of grain size on the mechanical properties of BCC metals

THE EFFECT OF GRAIN SIZE ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BCC METALS ABSTRACT In this study, the effect of grain size on the mechanical properties of bcc steels has been investigated using AISI 1030, AISI 8620 and AISI 1016. Three different Ml annealing temperatures were chosen above A3 temperature which is also known as austenization region in Fe-Fe3C phase diagram. Heat treatments were carried out at chosen temperatures. Increasing full annealing temperature and holding time also leads to the increased grain sizes. With increasing grain size, mechanical properties such as yield strength, tensile strength etc of steels studied were seen to decrease. Fracture toughness values of steels increases with icreasing grain sizes. Full annealing treated steels were followed by single axis tensile tests. Single axis tensile test results were processed using MATLAB 6.5 software to obtain a generalised results. Keywords: Grain size, Full Annealing, Mechanical Properties