Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
School of Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
Low-carbon steel, a ubiquitous construction material, is nearly pure iron, containing roughly one part per thousand of carbon and low, controlled levels of alloying elements and impurities. This apparent chemical poverty does not imply simple mechanical behaviour, though, and several projects investigate the phase and property changes during hot rolling. In the investigations industrial conditions of temperature and deformation are replicated on centimetre-sized samples in the laboratory. The results support the surprising industrial observation that the temperature history of steel slabs affects subsequent hot rolling: slabs which are rolled directly after casting (without cooling to room temperature) have different softening behaviour during hot rolling, and different internal structures afterwards compared to slabs which are cooled to room temperature before reheating for hot rolling. This 'memory' even persists after subsequent room-temperature ('cold') rolling of the steel. Having confirmed the effect, work is underway to test its possible microstructural or chemical origins.
Contact person: Prof PC Pistorius.
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