Metal Science a n d Heat Treatment

Vol. 40, Nos. 3 - 4, 1998

UDC 620.111.3

EFFECT OF VARIOUS KINDS OF THERMOMECHANICAL

TREATMENT
ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF STEELS STUDIED
USING ACOUSTOMICROSCOPIC
METHODS
A. 1. Kustov, I B. G. Sukhodolov, i and I. A. Migel' i
Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 4, pp. 2 9 - 32, April, 1998.
Results of a study of the structure and properties of steels and alloys by means of a scanning acoustic
microscope (SAM) are presented. The microscope makes it possible to visualize the structure of surface layers
of specimens without a complex chemical treatment of the surface, determine defects of various origins, and
measure the values of some elastomechanical characteristics. The sensitivity of acoustomicroscopic methods
to various kinds of thermal and mechanical treatment of the materials is described.

form of a half-tone TV image. A more detailed description of

the device and its operating principles is given in [2].
The second acoustomicroscopic method is used mainly to
obtain quantitative characteristics of the studied solid object.
For example, it has been shown in [3] that an acoustic microscope operating in the reflection mode makes it possible to
measure some elastic parameters of various solid materials by
the speed of the emitted surface acoustic waves. This method
is based on the experimentally established dependence of the
output signal Vofthe piezoelectric transducer on the distance
(Z) between the lens and the object. In this mode the specimen is scanned along the Z-axis. The acoustic waves fall on]o
the surface of the specimen in a rather wide range of angles
(the aperture angle of acoustic lenses amounts to 2 5 - 60~
and therefore there is always a range lying close to the
Rayleigh critical angle OR for acoustic waves. It can be seen
from Fig. 2 that the rays reflected from the surface (ray X.2 )
and incident on it at the Rayleigh critical angle (ray ~.j ) con-

An important problem of materials science consists in

studying the properties o f materials and assessing their relation with the structure. One of the ways of solving this problem consists in creating and using new methods of inspection,
including nondesructive ones. These include acoustic microscopy, developed in the last 20 years and based on the interaction between acoustic waves of the mega- and gigahertz frequency ranges and surface layers of the studied materials.
The most widely used regimes of operation of an SAM are
(1) visualization o f the structure and defects of the material
and (2) measurement of the speed of surface acoustic waves
(SAW) in the studied specimen. An overall view of the scanning and visualization unit of a scanning acoustic microscope
is presented in Fig. 1.
When the device operates in the visualization mode [1]
the radiation and reception of acoustic waves is performed by
one and the same acoustic element. The useful acoustic signal
reflected from the studied object and containing information
on the structural and mechanical properties of the reflection
region returns through the lens to the transducer and then is
transferred in the form of an electric signal to the radioelectronic channel. To obtain an image of a portion of a surface
the object is scanned in the focal plane XYofthe acoustic lens
in two mutually perpendicular directions. In the course of the
scanning, speciaI features of the structure and properties of
the object at various points manifest themselves in the amplitude or phase changes of the received signal. The videosignal
received after reflection and conversion modulates tile brightness of the cathode-ray tube, the raster scanning of which is
synchronized with the scanning of the object. This makes it
possible to reproduce the acoustic image of the object in the

Fi~. I. Overall view of the unit for scanning and visualization of a scanning
acoustic microscope: / ) optical objective on a rotating turret; 2 ) acoustic
Ions; 3 ) specimen: 4 ) scanning unit.

Voronezh I ligher Military Aircraft t:'ngincering School, Voronczh State

I'ngineering tlnivcrsitx, Voronezll, Russia.

163
002~-0o73/q~,'0~04-0163520.00 '~ 19q~ Plenum Publishing ('orporati,.m

164

A . I . K u s t o v et al.

r/

3
i

Fig. 2. Geometrical path of rays in an acoustic cell: / ) piezoelectric

transducer; 2 ) sound duct; 3 ) immersion liquid; 4 ) surface of the specimen;
5 ) focal plane of the acoustic lens; 0 R ) Rayleigh angle; XY)object scanning
plane; Z) axis determining the distance from the lens to the object and the
depth of visualization; ;k. I and k 2 ) rays (repeatedly reflected at the Rayleigh
angle and mirror rellected, respectively).

0.~

Fig. 4. Light (a, c) and acoustic (b, d ) i m a g e s o f the surface o f steels

VNS-2M (a, b ) and 06Kh 14N8MD2T (c, d): a) 200; b ) 200, Z = - 20 lain;
c) 260; d ) 240, Z = 10 ~m.

speed of the surface acoustic wave VSAw . In the approximation of the geometric model o f [4] they are related as

30

60

Z, lain

Fig. 3. A typical curve of I,'(Z ) for solid (metallic) materials: I,') magnitude
of the output signal in relative units; Z ) distance from the lens to the surface
of the object; / and 2) principal and secondary maxima, respectively;
AZx ) characteristic distance for the material studied.

tribute to the output signal. A Rayleigh acoustic wave excited

on the surface, while propagating, re-radiates energy into the
immersion liquid, including at the angle OR. This secondary
wave differs in phase from the acoustic wave directly reflected from the surface, as a result o f which the two waves
interfere. The phase difference changes periodically in relation to the distance Z and therefore the dependence V(Z) has
an oscillating nature. Although only part o f the re-reflected
rays falls onto the piezoelectric transducer, it is their contribution to the output signal that determines the dependence of
V on the properties o f the material o f the specimen. The curve
of V(Z) has a strictly specific shape for each material and can
be used to judge the elastic properties of the reflecting surthce. A curve o f V(Z) typical for metallic materials is presented in Fig. 3. The region of oscillations lying to the right
of the principal and shifted maxima makes it possible to calculate the speeds of the surface acoustic waves, from them,
some elastic characteristics of the object. The distance between the maxima of the curve o f V(Z) is detenlaincd by the

-1

(1)

~'SAW = Vliq I --

1 --

Vliq
Lfaz~,

i]

(2)

where viiq is the speed o f propagation o f the acoustic wave

in the immersion liquid, a n d f i s the working frequency o f the
acoustic microscope. To measure the value o f vSAw we obtained an image o f the curve o f V(Z) on the display o f the
scanning acoustic microscope and determined AZu with an
accuracy no worse than 0.5 ~tm using gauges o f precision
conveyance o f the lens along the axis Z. In accordance with
Eqs. ( I ) and (2) we determined the values o f VsAw . It should
be noted that a merit o f tile V(Z) method for determining
t,sA~v is the possibility o f making measurements on smallsize local regions of solid objects. We calculated the size d
of the minimum region for measuring vSAw in steels f o r f -~
0.5 GHz and characteristic values o f VSAw ranging between
250(I and 4000 m/sec and established that d_~ 6XSAw, i.e.,
30 - 70 ~.tm (~-s,xw is the wavelength).

Effect of Various Kinds of Thermomechanical Treatment on the Structure and Properties of Steels

165

Fig. 5. Acoustic image of the structure of steel 70 after different kinds ofthermomechanical treatment (a - c) and a characteristic curve of I'(Z ) (d):
a, b ) for planes parallel and perpendicular to the direction o f deformation, respectiveb,, ~ = 65%, 350; c) after patenting, x 350.

Since the acoustic contrast in the visualization mode is

provided by the differences in the impedances (pVsAw ) of the
studied regions, an SAM provides high-contrast structural
images of polycrystalline materials. Numerous experiments
have shown that the phase, grain, and twin structures can be
visualized. Figure 4 presents light and acoustic images of surface regions of polished specimens of different alloys. Any
thermal or mechanical action of a sufficiently high level
causes a change in the structure of the specimen, which is recorded by the method of acoustic visualization.
We studied specimens of steels of different classes,
namely, maraging steel VNS-2M and austenitic steel
06Khl4N8MD2T with a composition close to it (it was used
as a model steel for VNS-2M in HTMT) (Table 1), and carbon spring steel 70 (about 0.7% C). We used a scanning acoustic microscope with a working frequency of 410 MHz, which

TABLE

I
Concenlralion of elements, %
Steel
C

Cr

Ni

Cu

VNS-2M

0.07

14.6

5.2

~)6Kh 14N~MI)21

0.06

14

Ii
1.2"~
0.15 . 0 3 0

provided a resolution of 1 . 5 - 5 p.m. The steel specimens

were preliminarily treated by an HTMT regime that gave
structures of dynamic polygonization and dynamic and static
recrystallization (the HTMT regimes for both steels were the
same, which made it possible to monitor the structure formation in hot deformation by the model steel). Steel
06Khl4NSMD2T was hot-deformed in the intercritical temperature range (DMA), and steel 70 (wire 2 mm in diameter)
was patented. The crystallographic texture was studied by the
method of plotting straight pole figures from the reflections
{110}, {200} ofmartensite and {I I 1}, {220} of austenite [5].
The speed of acoustic waves in polycrystalline materials
is determined by their moduli of elasticity, the crystallographic orientation of the grains, and defects of the crystal
lattice, in particular, the presence of a developed structure and
substructure.
Figure 5a - c presents the microstructure and anisotropy
of steel 70 after patenting. The studied surfaces of the specimens were parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the rod.
The acoustic image of the microstructure is qualitatively
similar to the metallographic one. However, the contrast of
the light image is caused only by the unevenness of the surface of the microscopic specimen due to etching, whereas the
acoustic image shows the mutual crystallographic disorienta-

166

A . I . Kustov et al.

Eeffx 10-4, N/mm 2

TABLE 2
Steel

I s.5

//

Treatment

Ecffx 10 4
N/ram 2
-

"y x 10 - 10
cm - 2

VNS-2M

HTMT

17.9 +_0.2

1.9 + 0.3

06Khl4NSMD2T

HTMT

17.1 + 0.2

0.5 +_+_0.1

06Kh 14N8MD2T

DMA

15.8 + 0.3

4.3 _+0.7

Note. Eeff was measured along the direction of rolling.

17.5

TABLE 3
I

Type of structure

Fig. 6. Anisotropy of the effective modulus of elasticity Eeff for specimens of

steel 70 after different kinds of thermomechanical treatment: I ) a standard
specimen (undeformed); 2 ) 65% deformation by drawing; 3 ) patenting (light
columns present measurements in the lengthwise direction with respect to the
rolling, hatched columns present data in the widthwise direction).

tion o f neighboring volumes. Thus, the variation o f the contrast is a sign o f a change in the orientation o f individual
grains, or o f a texture when the results are processed statistically. The quantity Eelr calculated from the measured speeds
vSAw Can be a quantitative estimate in the given case. The
calculation o f E,, r is based on use o f the regime o f measurement o f the speed o f the surface acoustic waves and some
concepts o f the theory o f elasticity [6, 7]. The speeds o f longitudinal ( v t ), transverse (Vs), and surface (vSAw ) acoustic
waves were determined using the equations

,/Eo,,.

O-v)

(3)

- ;
p 2(1 + v)

(4)

VL= V 9 ( I - v ) ( I - 2 v ) '

vs =

VsAw = v s

0.87 + 1.12v
l+v

(5)

where v is the Poisson coefficient, p is the density, Eelr is the

effective modulus of elasticity, and G is the shear modulus o f
the material. After some algebra we obtain
2p(1 + v) 3 .
Eeff = VSAW (0.87 + I. 12v)2

(6)

+I+vi

G=vs-Aw13 0.87+1.12v

"

Thus, if we know the density of the specimen (determined experimentally) and the Poisson coefficient

v-

I - 2 ( v s / v I )2
2-2(v~/v l)2"

(8)

the values of Ec~r and G can be determined by measuring the

speeds of the SAW. In the presence of 8 - 9 peaks on the

Polygonized
Recrystallized

Texture

Eeff x I 0 - 4, N / m m 2

{ 123 } (I 23)

19.3 _4-0.2/17.0 + 0.2

(II0) + {111} (112)

18.7+0.2/18.7_+0.2

Note. The numerators present Ecff measured in the lengthwise direction

with respect to that of rolling, the denominators give data for the widthwise
direction.

curve o f V ( Z ) (Fig. 5 d ) the error in measuring VSAw does

not exceed 0.5%.
The use o f a scanning acoustic microscope makes it possible to determine the modulus o f elasticity directly in thin
wires, which cannot be made by other methods. Figure 6 presents results o f determination o f Eelr in various stages o f patenting. It follows from the experiments that the anisotropy o f
Eeff typical for a deformed state is retained after patenting.
This is explainable by retention o f the deformation texture after patenting o f steel 70. The growth ofequiaxial grains in the
processes o f short-duration recrystallization heating occurs
with repetition o f the orientation o f the deformed grains.
The values o f Eelr o f the steels after H T M T and DMA
are presented in Table 2. The treatment regimes were chosen
so that the austenite and martensite texture after the deformation (after DMA the structure o f steel 0 6 K h I 4 N S M D 2 T at
room temperature becomes martensitic) was not sharp and
caused a minimum anisotropy. Results show that E~rr depends on the type of the structure and, in all probability, on
the dislocation density y: the higher the dislocation density,
the greater the scattering o f vSAw and the lower the value o f
Eelr. HTMT with the formation o f polygonized austenite in
hot deformation causes anisotropy o f Eelr (the mechanical
properties become anisotropic in the plane o f rolling too [5]),
which does not occur in HTMT that leads to formation o f dynamically recrystallized austenite (Table 3). The nature o f the
anisotropy o f Eetr agrees with results o f our study o f the
crystallographic texture.
It should be noted that the acoustomicroscopic methods
described are convenient for studying relaxation processes. In
this case we can observe the transformation o f the structure
on acoustic images and measure the values o f VSAw and get~
on individual areas. However, detailed consideration o f this
problem requires additional experiments and will be the subject o f a special work.

Effect of Various Kinds of Thermomechanical Treatment on the Structure and Properties of Steels

Thus, the use of a scanning acoustic microscope to study

167

REFERENCES

the effect of various regimes of thermomechanical treatment

of steels on their structure and properties makes it possible:
(I) to visualize the structure of the surface layers o f an
object to a depth h = 5 - 20 ~Aw (for the SAM used h ~ 20 80 lam) without resorting to etching;
(2) to observe the transformation o f the grain and phase
structures in the heat-treatment process;
(3) to calculate some elastic-mechanical characteristics
(vSAw, Ee~r, G ) and determine their anisotropy using the
method of V ( Z ) curves.
Further work in this direction should be connected with
creation of a method for determining the thickness of the
cold-hardened surface, diffusion, and heat-treated layers from
the values of VsAw, Eerr, and G and establishment of a correlation between these thicknesses and the heat-treatment regime o f the material.

I. C. F. Quate, A. Atalar, and H. K. Wickramasinghe, "Acoustic microscopy with mechanical scanning," Proc. IEEE, 67(8), 1092 Ill3 (1979).
2. A. I. Kustov, M. A. Kulakov, and A. I. Morozov, "A scanning
acoustic microscope," Prib. Tekhn. Eksper, No. 2, 194- 196
(1986).
3. M. A. Kulakov and A. I. Morozov, "Special features of measuring
SAW by an acoustic microscope," Akust. Zh., XXXI, Issue 6,
817 - 820 (1985).
4. W. Parmon and V. L. Berloni, "Ray interpretation of the material
signatures in the acoustic microscope," Electr Left., 15(21),
684 - 686 (1979).
5. L. M. Bernshtein, L. M. Kaputkina, A. I. Kustov, and T. V. Morozova, "A study of the structure and texture of steel in patenting
and hot deformation," Fiz. Met. Metalloved., 65, Issue 6, I 155 I 162 (I 988).
6. L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshits, The Theory o f Elasticity [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1965).
7. E. D'elesan and D. Rhuaue, Elastic Waves in Solids [Russian
translation], Nauka, Moscow (1984).