Effect of Warm Rolling on the Evolution of Microstructure and Toughness in 100Cr6 Bearing Steel

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of Warm Rolling on the Evolution of Microstructure and Toughness in 100Cr6 Bearing Steel

AU - He, Shuai

AU - Zhao, Tan

AU - Yin, Qing

AU - Liu, Ye

AU - Zhang, Chi

AU - Wang, Jun Sheng

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

PY - 2026/2

Y1 - 2026/2

N2 - Traditional spheroidization annealing of 100Cr6 bearing steel is time-consuming and energy-intensive. To address this, warm rolling is proposed as an efficient alternative for microstructure refinement and toughness enhancement. The influence of warm rolling at critical dual-phase (760 °C) and ferrite (700 °C, 650 °C) temperatures is investigated. At 760°C, dynamic recrystallization dominated with 90% recrystallized area, yielding equiaxed ferrite grains of 4–6 μm and normally distributed carbides averaging 0.37 μm in size with 32 vol%. Lower-temperature rolling at 650 °C intensified deformation bands to 3 μm spacing, promoting carbide precipitation to 47 vol% density at 15.7 particles μm−2 while suppressing recrystallization (90% area with GOS >2). Nanoscale carbides of 0.094 μm pinned grain boundaries, transitioning deformation mechanisms from grain-boundary sliding to intragranular slip. Impact toughness increased by 30%–40% in ferrite-zone rolled specimens due to crack deflection by laminated fibrous grains and fine carbides. This work clarifies how distortion energy storage drives deformation-induced carbide precipitation, providing a pathway to achieve high toughness through tailored warm-rolling processes.

AB - Traditional spheroidization annealing of 100Cr6 bearing steel is time-consuming and energy-intensive. To address this, warm rolling is proposed as an efficient alternative for microstructure refinement and toughness enhancement. The influence of warm rolling at critical dual-phase (760 °C) and ferrite (700 °C, 650 °C) temperatures is investigated. At 760°C, dynamic recrystallization dominated with 90% recrystallized area, yielding equiaxed ferrite grains of 4–6 μm and normally distributed carbides averaging 0.37 μm in size with 32 vol%. Lower-temperature rolling at 650 °C intensified deformation bands to 3 μm spacing, promoting carbide precipitation to 47 vol% density at 15.7 particles μm−2 while suppressing recrystallization (90% area with GOS >2). Nanoscale carbides of 0.094 μm pinned grain boundaries, transitioning deformation mechanisms from grain-boundary sliding to intragranular slip. Impact toughness increased by 30%–40% in ferrite-zone rolled specimens due to crack deflection by laminated fibrous grains and fine carbides. This work clarifies how distortion energy storage drives deformation-induced carbide precipitation, providing a pathway to achieve high toughness through tailored warm-rolling processes.

KW - 100Cr6 steel

KW - carbide

KW - deformation energy

KW - dynamic softening

KW - warm-rolling

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105013256991

U2 - 10.1002/srin.202500108

DO - 10.1002/srin.202500108

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105013256991

SN - 1611-3683

VL - 97

SP - 932

EP - 942

JO - Steel Research International

JF - Steel Research International

IS - 2

ER -