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Metals
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Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons
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Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Metal Casting, Forming and Heat Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2025 | Viewed by 8744

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Annalisa Fortini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1/E, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Interests: metallurgical characterization of steels and cast irons; mechanical properties; surface engineering; shape memory alloys
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Chiara Soffritti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Interests: archaeometallurgy; heritage science; metal alloys; chemical composition; microstructure; heat treatment; corrosion products; restoration solutions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce to you the Special Issue of Metals entitled “Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons” The success of our previous special issue on cast irons highlights the significance and interest surrounding this subject. In this light, we invite you to submit valuable contributions to this special issue to provide a more comprehensive and critical understanding of cast irons and ferrous alloys.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect full papers, communications, and review articles concerning the latest advancements and emerging trends in steels and cast irons, with a special focus on technological innovation related to these alloys.

Submissions of works (including case studies, experimental and/or analytical approaches) dealing with recent development in improving the microstructural, mechanical, tribological and corrosive resistance in different industrial fields are also encouraged.

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research articles for this Special Issue to be published in the open access journal Metals. High-quality papers from researchers in the scientific community and industry are welcome.

Dr. Annalisa Fortini
Dr. Chiara Soffritti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cast irons
  • steels
  • microstructure
  • heat treatment
  • mechanical properties
  • tribological behavior
  • corrosion resistance
  • coatings
  • casting
  • process parameters
  • modeling
  • welding

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 10502 KiB  
Article
Indentation-Free Resistance Spot Welding of SUS301L Stainless Steel
by Yutong Liu, Yuming Xie, Xiuwen Sun, Licheng Sun, Naijie Wang, Xiaotian Ma, Xiangchen Meng and Yongxian Huang
Metals 2024, 14(10), 1178; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14101178 - 16 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1006
Abstract
Paint-free bodywork has become an attractive alternative for rail vehicles, in the direction of easy maintainability and low manufacturing costs. However, conventional resistance spot welding inevitably leaves indentation marks to detrimentally reduce the optical homogeneity of the paint-free bodywork. In light of this, [...] Read more.
Paint-free bodywork has become an attractive alternative for rail vehicles, in the direction of easy maintainability and low manufacturing costs. However, conventional resistance spot welding inevitably leaves indentation marks to detrimentally reduce the optical homogeneity of the paint-free bodywork. In light of this, indentation-free resistance spot welding is proposed for joining SUS301L stainless steel sheets in order to achieve superior surficial integrity. A tiny SUS301L steel ball with a diameter of 1.5 mm was chosen as the intermediate filler between two steel sheets to avoid the formation of surficial indentation. The influence of welding current and welding time on the mechanical properties of joints was studied. The optimal parameters of the mechanical properties were obtained when the welding current was 8.0 kA, the welding time was 150 ms, the electrode pressure was 0.35 MPa, and the electrodes were cylindrical planar electrodes, which was determined by comparing the tensile shear test results. The surficial indentation depth was less than 1% of the plate thickness, and no observable indentations were seen on the surface of the optimized welding spots. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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14 pages, 12129 KiB  
Article
Dislocation Strengthening and Texture Evolution of Non-Oriented Fe-3.3 wt% Si Steel in Double Cold Rolling
by Yijing Gao, Yunbo Xu, Haoran Chen, Bingyu Yuan, Zhenyu Gao and Lifeng Zhou
Metals 2024, 14(10), 1127; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14101127 - 3 Oct 2024
Viewed by 890
Abstract
An excellent Fe-3.3 wt% Si steel was fabricated by double cold rolling and final annealing. The evolution of the microstructure and texture was studied by optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ex situ, and quasi-in situ electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) to investigate the [...] Read more.
An excellent Fe-3.3 wt% Si steel was fabricated by double cold rolling and final annealing. The evolution of the microstructure and texture was studied by optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ex situ, and quasi-in situ electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) to investigate the recrystallization behavior. Double cold rolling significantly reduced the adverse γ texture in the final annealed sheets, and a stronger η texture was observed. With a reduction ratio of 50% and 65% during double cold rolling, the γ texture almost disappeared, whereas the η texture was obviously improved. Consequently, the texture factor reached its peak, leading to a reduction in iron loss and an enhancement of magnetic induction. By combining texture regulation with dislocation strengthening, the magnetic properties of Fe-3.3 wt% Si steel were improved, and the yield strength also increased. The final sheet exhibiting exceptional magnetic characteristics and enhanced strength attained a reduction in iron loss (P10/400 = 21.84 W/kg) of 6.43 W/kg, along with an enhancement of magnetic induction (B50 = 1.698 T) of 0.038 T and yield strength (Rp0.2 = 578 MPa) of 37 MPa compared to a single-stage cold rolling process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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16 pages, 8293 KiB  
Article
Low-Carbon Steel Formed by DRECE Method with Hot-Dip Zinc Galvanizing and Potentiodynamic Polarization Tests to Study Its Corrosion Behavior
by Jiřina Vontorová, Vlastimil Novák and Petra Váňová
Metals 2024, 14(9), 993; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14090993 - 31 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1096
Abstract
The use of low-carbon unalloyed steel with minimal silicon content is widespread in structural steel and automotive applications due to its ease of manipulation. The mechanical properties of this steel can be significantly enhanced through severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques. Our study focuses [...] Read more.
The use of low-carbon unalloyed steel with minimal silicon content is widespread in structural steel and automotive applications due to its ease of manipulation. The mechanical properties of this steel can be significantly enhanced through severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques. Our study focuses on the practical benefits of the dual rolling equal channel extrusion (DRECE) method, which strengthens the steel and has implications for material hardness and the thickness of subsequently applied hot-dip zinc galvanizing. Furthermore, the steel’s corrosion potential and current are investigated as a function of material hardness and thickness. The findings show a 20% increase in hardness HV 30 after the first run through the forming machine, with an additional 10% increase after the second run. Subsequent galvanizing leads to a further 1–12% increase in HV 30 value. Notably, the DRECE hardening demonstrates no statistically significant effect on the corrosion potential and current; however, the impact of galvanizing is as anticipated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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11 pages, 7939 KiB  
Article
Effect of B2 Precipitation on Hot Ductility of Fe–22Mn–9Al–0.6C Low-Density Steel
by Jun Wang, Tinghui Man, Yihao Zhou, Xicheng Wei and Han Dong
Metals 2024, 14(6), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14060724 - 19 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1029
Abstract
Fe–Mn–Al–C low-density steels are regarded as promising materials applied in the automotive industry to achieve the minimization of vehicular emissions and fuel consumption. This study investigates the high-temperature strength and hot ductility of Fe–22Mn–9Al–0.6C low-density steel through high-temperature tensile tests at 800–950 °C. [...] Read more.
Fe–Mn–Al–C low-density steels are regarded as promising materials applied in the automotive industry to achieve the minimization of vehicular emissions and fuel consumption. This study investigates the high-temperature strength and hot ductility of Fe–22Mn–9Al–0.6C low-density steel through high-temperature tensile tests at 800–950 °C. The high-temperature strength decreases with an increasing deformation temperature. This indicates that the precipitation of B2 reduces the hot ductility during the hot deformation of steel, where the results are consistent with those during the solid-solution treatment at 800–950 °C with a holding time of 0.5 h. Furthermore, at 800 °C the γ transforms into a mixture of α + DO3 and κ-carbide precipitates. A transformation of κ + DO3→B2 occurs in the temperature range of 850–900 °C, and at this point the κ-carbide dissolves into the matrix and B2 is generated, resulting in a significant decrease in hot ductility. As the temperature increases up to 950 °C, B2 emerges and transforms into the δ phase, and the κ-carbide precipitates along the γ/γ grain boundaries. The precipitation of B2 during high-temperature treatments in Fe-Mn-Al-C low-density steels is the critical factor affecting hot ductility, leading to crack generation; therefore, it is extremely essential to prevent the temperature interval of B2 precipitation during hot deformation processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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18 pages, 10146 KiB  
Article
Effect of Molten Salts Composition on the Corrosion Behavior of Additively Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel for Concentrating Solar Power
by Najib Abu-warda, Sonia García-Rodríguez, Belén Torres, María Victoria Utrilla and Joaquín Rams
Metals 2024, 14(6), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14060639 - 28 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1322
Abstract
The effects of different molten salts on the corrosion resistance of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) 316L stainless steel was evaluated at 650 and 700 °C. The samples were characterized via XRD and SEM/EDX after high-temperature corrosion tests to evaluate the corrosion damage [...] Read more.
The effects of different molten salts on the corrosion resistance of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) 316L stainless steel was evaluated at 650 and 700 °C. The samples were characterized via XRD and SEM/EDX after high-temperature corrosion tests to evaluate the corrosion damage to the L-PBF 316L stainless steel caused by the molten salts. The presence of the salts accelerated the corrosion process, the chloride-based salts being the most aggressive ones, followed by the carbonate-based and the nitrate/nitrite-based salts, respectively. The L-PBF 316L did not react strongly with the nitrate/nitrite-based salts, but some corrosion products not found in the samples tested in the absence of salts, such as NaFeO2, were formed. LiFeO2 and LiCrO2 were identified as the main corrosion products in the samples exposed to the carbonate-based molten salts, due to the high activity of Li ions. Their growth produced the depletion of Fe and Cr elements and the formation of vacancies that acted as diffusion paths on the surface of the steel. In the samples exposed to chloride-based molten salts, the attacked area was much deeper, and the corrosion process followed an active oxidation mechanism in which a chlorine cycle is assumed to have been involved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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14 pages, 7218 KiB  
Article
Unlocking the Potential of Sebacate: Investigating Its Role in the Inhibition of Filiform Corrosion on Organic Coated Steel
by Andrea Cristoforetti, Stefano Rossi, Flavio Deflorian and Michele Fedel
Metals 2024, 14(6), 623; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14060623 - 24 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 783
Abstract
The study investigated the effect of sebacate as a corrosion inhibitor for acrylic-coated steel. Specifically, it examined its impact on mitigating a frequent case of paint delamination, known as filiform corrosion (FFC), through a chosen weathering test designed to stress the degradation of [...] Read more.
The study investigated the effect of sebacate as a corrosion inhibitor for acrylic-coated steel. Specifically, it examined its impact on mitigating a frequent case of paint delamination, known as filiform corrosion (FFC), through a chosen weathering test designed to stress the degradation of the produced samples. Sebacate was demonstrated to be an efficient organic molecule for enhancing the corrosion resistance of steel. This efficacy was evaluated through electrochemical characterization based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements and potentiodynamic polarization curves, including the application of an FFC susceptibility prediction methodology based on measurements obtained in FFC-simulated electrolytes. An inhibition efficiency of 98% was measured in near-neutral saline solutions compared to conditions lacking inhibitor presence. During FFC simulation, the primary effect observed was associated with a reduction in cathodic activity evolution. Furthermore, a significant reduction in corrosion creep evolution of 35% was found. These experimental findings aligned closely with the outcomes projected by the simulated investigations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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13 pages, 6867 KiB  
Article
Effect of Bismuth and Telluride on the Inclusions of Sulfur Free-Cutting Steel
by Xin Wang, Hongmei Zhang, Jianling Wang, Rui Zhu, Yuchuan Zhu, Fenglin Lu, Jinmeng Li and Zhengyi Jiang
Metals 2023, 13(3), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13030486 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1976
Abstract
The development of free-cutting steel is inseparable from the development of environmentally friendly alloy elements and the control of inclusions shape. Alloying elements can affect the composition, morphology, size, and distribution of inclusion, which are the main factors affecting the machinability of free-cutting [...] Read more.
The development of free-cutting steel is inseparable from the development of environmentally friendly alloy elements and the control of inclusions shape. Alloying elements can affect the composition, morphology, size, and distribution of inclusion, which are the main factors affecting the machinability of free-cutting steel. This study selected sulfur free-cutting steel with different chemical compositions as the research object to examine the effects of bismuth and bismuth tellurium on sulfur-containing free-cutting steel through electrolytic corrosion experiments, metallographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy spectrum, and electron backscattering analyzer. The results showed that the microstructures of free-cutting-steel containing sulfur, free-cutting steel containing sulfur bismuth, and free-cutting steel containing sulfur bismuth tellurium are composed of ferrite, pearlite, and inclusions. The inclusions in sulfur-containing free-cutting steel are chain, cluster, and a few dotted MnS. The inclusions in sulfur-bismuth free-cutting steel are point and a few dotted MnS. After the addition of Te, the number of dotted inclusions is reduced, while the number of chain and cluster inclusions is increased. Most of the inclusions in bismuth-containing free-cutting steel are flake inclusions, and the class II MnS change into class III MnS, which is beneficial for improving the free-cutting property of steel and to reduce anisotropy. With the addition of Te, MnS of other shapes, such as heart, water drop, butterfly, etc. of a length–width ratio of less than 4 also appeared as MnS and MnTe complex inclusions, and the fusiform manganese sulfide accounted for most of the steel. Both Bi and Te had modification effects on MnS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights and Advances in Steels and Cast Irons)
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