Fundamental metallurgy of niobium in steel 1981

In the early 1960's, the forerunners of the current microalloyed steels were being studied and fairly well understood, (1- 4) and the first conference devoted to these materials was held in Harrogate, England, in 1963 (5). The present paper reviews some of the metallurgical developments which have taken place since then in the alloy design, processing and application of these steels. Particular emphasis has been placed on the basic metallurgical principles which apply to these steels, for it is the application of these principles which allows the composition - processing – microstructure mechanical property relationships to be rationalized and exploited. The application of basic metallurgical principles has resulted in a predictive capability which has lead to alterations in composition and processing for the purpose of producing steels with superior mechanical properties and improved overall performance. (AU)