Hot Workability of 300M Steel Investigated by In Situ and Ex Situ Compression Tests

Abstract

In this work, hot compression experiments of 300M steel were performed at 900–1150 °C and 0.01–10 s−1. The relation of flow stress and microstructure evolution was analyzed. The intriguing finding was that at a lower strain rate (0.01 s−1), the flow stress curves were single-peaked, while at a higher strain rate (10 s−1), no peak occurred. Metallographic observation results revealed the phenomenon was because dynamic recrystallization was more complete at a lower strain rate. In situ compression tests were carried out to compare with the results by ex situ compression tests. Hot working maps representing the influences of strains, strain rates, and temperatures were established. It was found that the power dissipation coefficient was not only related to the recrystallized grain size but was also related to the volume fraction of recrystallized grains. The optimal hot working parameters were suggested. This work provides comprehensive understanding of the hot workability of 300M steel in thermal compression.