Abstract: The purpose of this research is to quantify the effects of compositional and processing parameters on the microstructure and properties of dual phase steel produced directly by hot rolling and rapid cooling.Steels with the base composition of 0.1%C, 1.4%Si, and 1.0%Mn with additions of 0.5%Cr to influence hardenability, 0.04%Nb to retard recrystallization in the latter stages of rolling, or 0.02%Ti to inhibit grain growth during and after reheating were investigated. Investigation was made to predict microstructure evolution and to correlate microstructure with processing parameters. The effects of the important microstructure parameters such as ferrite grain size, martensite volume fraction (VM) and morphology (polygonal or fibrous) on the tensile and impact properties are discussed. Multiple linear regression analysis of the ultimate tensile strength has shown that, increasing VM and martensite microhardness and grain refinement of ferrite are the major contributions to increase the strength of the steel. It was found that the dual-phase steel produced by controlled rolling process, with a microstructure which consisted of fine grained ferrite (4 mm) and 35%´40% fibrous martensite, presented optimum tensile and impact properties because of enhanced resistance to crack propagation.

Key words: Dual-phase steel, Martensite, Controlled rolling