Per: davidson marcos de oliveira (usiminas), antônio adel dos santos (usiminas), vicente tadeu lopes buono (ufmg)
Abstract:
The benefits of using the controlled rolling process followed by accelerated cooling (TMCP), currently used in the main rolling mills in the world are already well known and metallurgically based. The need to obtain mechanical properties with a high degree of homogeneity means that in some situations the ends of the rolled material are discarded, negatively affecting the metallic yield of the process. Therefore, this work focused on the determination of the mechanical properties variation at the ends of thick plates processed by TMCP of steels for application in oil and gas pipelines, in order to map the extent of these differences and to correlate them with the microstructure obtained, the profiles of temperature and cooling rates in these regions. To perform the work, two slabs of the studied material were rolled, and the temperature profile was recorded along the plate in the controlled rolling and accelerated cooling processes. The ends of the material were sampled in sections at every 100 mm and subjected to tensile test, hardness and the Charpy V-notch impact test, as well as dilatometry and microstructure evaluations. For the used process conditions, the results indicated the formation of a banded microstructure, basically consisting of polygonal ferrite and bainite, occasionally containing small fractions of perlite. The mechanical properties in the top and the base were higher than the values found in the plate middle, justified by the microstructure found. The work allowed understanding the relationship between the mechanical properties, microstructures and process conditions at the ends, helping the team to improve the process in order to result in a high degree of homogeneity of the product and, thus, lead to optimization of the metallic yield.
