Effects of normalizing and tempering temperature on the bainite microstructure and properties of low alloy fire-resistant steel bars

Different combinations of normalizing and tempering were carried out to optimize the microstructure and enhance the high-temperature mechanical properties of HRB400FR fire-resistant steel bars. The results showed that with the increasing of the tempering temperature from 400 to 600°C, the steel bar’s hardness decreases linearly, mainly due to the formation of quasi-polygon ferrite and granular bainite. Besides, the reduced width and the dissolution of the lath bainite also undermine the performance of the tempered steel bars. The highest Vickers hardness of 380 HV is achieved when the steel is normalized at 950°C and then tempered at 400°C, mainly due to precipitation strengthening and bainite strengthening. The hardness of the test steel tempered at 600°C gives the lowest value, only 230 HV since the least amount of bainite is obtained. When the tempering temperature reaches 650°C, the hardness rises to 260 HV due to the formation of the lath bainite. The emergence of needle bainite generally reduces the matrix grain size, and the appearance of lath martensite refines the precipitated carbides.