Effect of carbon content on mechanical properties of fully pearlitic steels

The effects of microstructural features, such as interlamellar spacing, prior austenite grain size (AGS), and carbon content, on mechanical properties have been investigated for fully pearlitic steels containing 0.52 and 0.82 wt-%C. Interlamellar spacing and prior AGS had significant influence on strength and ductility of eutectoid steels. While interlamellar spacing and prior AGS had a significant influence on the ductility of eutectoid steels, the carbon content showed a stronger effect on ductility than interlamellar spacing and prior AGS for fully pearlitic steels with various carbon contents. The carbon content in steels controls the discontinuous nature, the thickness, and the volume fraction of cementite in pearlite. Therefore, hypoeutectoid steels show the superior reduction of area than eutectoid steels in all tested ranges of interlamellar spacing, in spite of the various prior AGS.