Inhomogeneous deformation behavior in compressive deformation process at room temperature of graphitized carbon steel

Based on the development trends, graphitized carbon steel has been proposed as a low-sulfur and Pb-free free-cutting steel. This steel has attracted considerable attention because of its excellent cutting performance and good cold forging performance.This study investigates graphitized carbon steel containing 0. 46% C with ferrite and graphite. In particular, its compression deformation at room temperature was studied using a universal testing machine. The load-displacement curve was fitted, the drum shape and radial elongation of the end face of the compression specimens were calculated, the surface quality and microstructure of the compression specimens were observed using optical microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and the micro-deformation of graphite particles and the ferritic matrix in the compression specimens was statistically analyzed using Image-Pro 6. 0. The results show that the tested steel exhibits good compression deformation performance. According to the varying characteristics of the load with respect to displacement, the compression deformation process of the tested steel is divided into two stages with a displacement of 7 mm (corresponding to 58. 3% reduction) : at the compression stage with displacement ≤7. 0 mm, the load increases linearly with displacement.The value of the drum shape increases with increasing displacement, reaching a maximum value of 14. 6%, the radial elongation of the end face of the compression sample increases 34%, and the Vickers hardness at the center of the compression sample reaches its maximum value of 38. 1 HV. At the compression stage with displacement > 7. 0 mm, the load increases exponentially, the value of the drum shape gradually decreases from its maximum value, the radial elongation of the end face of compression sample increases by 83. 1%compared with that at 7. 0 mm displacement, and the Vickers hardness at the center of the compression sample reaches its minimum value of 32. 7 HV. The aforementioned experimental data show that, in the compression process with displacement ≤7. 0 mm, the three non-uniform deformation zones within the compression sample are consistent with the traditional compression model; however, in the compression process with displacement > 7. 0 mm, the center of the sample is no longer the deformation zone with the largest deformation degree in the traditional compression model. That is, the deformation degree of the three nonuniform deformation zones changes at this stage. This change leads to sharp increase in the load and to a decrease in the drum shape. In addition, during the compression deformation process, the micro-deformation degree of the graphite particles is greater than that of the ferritic matrix in the three inhomogeneous deformation zones. This is attributed to the crystal structure of graphite. In particular, graphite has a layered, planar structure in which bonding between layers occurs via weak van der Waals interactions, which enables layers of graphite to be easily separated or to slide past each other.