Correlation of microstructure and charpy impact properties in API X70 and X80 line-pipe steels

This study aims at correlating microstructure and Charpy impact properties in high-toughness API X70 and X80 line-pipe steels. Three kinds of steels were fabricated by varying alloying elements and hot rolling conditions, and their microstructures and Charpy impact properties were investigated. In addition, their effective grain sizes were characterized by the electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis. The Charpy impact test results indicated that the steels rolled in the single phase region had the higher upper shelf energy (USE) than the steel rolled in the two phase region because their microstructures were composed of acicular ferrites. In the X80 steel rolled in the single phase region, the decreased energy transition temperature (ETT) could be explained by the decrease in the overall effective grain size due to the presence of acicular ferrite having smaller effective grain size. Thus, it had excellent mechanical properties in yield and tensile strengths, absorbed energy, and transition temperature, except in ductility.