Effects of carbon percentage, Stelmor cooling rate and laying head temperature on tensile strength gain in low carbon steels

Low carbon steel wire rods are used to produce finished products such as fine wire, coat hangers, staples, and roofing nails. These products are subjected to excessively high work hardening rates during wire drawing process resulting in a variation in wire tensile strength. This research analyzes the effects of carbon percentage, StelmorRTM cooling rate and laying head temperature on the tensile strength gain in wire drawn low carbon steels using design of experiments. The probable reasons for variations in tensile strength gain are analyzed by observing the microstructural changes during experiments.; Microstructural analysis was done extensively using optical microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and it was found that the tensile strength gain variation is mainly caused by the increase in the dislocation density in wire rod and wire due to high cooling rate and high laying head temperature, within the range considered. This research concludes that a low carbon wire rod can be produced with minimum tensile strength gain, lower dislocation density and finer ferrite grain size by maintaining a low cooling rate in the StelmorRTM cooling zone and low laying head temperature, which is the temperature at which the wire rod coils are laid on the Stelmor RTM deck.; It is also concluded from the results of the present study that: (1) The lowest tensile strength gain is for NS 1006T-3 (0.07 wt.% Carbon) with low cooling rate of 14°F/s and low laying head temperature of 1500°F. (2) The highest tensile strength gain is for NS 1006T-3 with high cooling rate of 26°F/s and high laying head temperature of 1650°F. (3) The effect of StelmorRTM cooling rate and laying head temperature and their interaction are found to be the significant factors causing the variation in wire tensile strength gain. The StelmorRTM cooling rate has the most significant effect on tensile strength gain among the three factors. (4) The effect of carbon percentage on wire tensile strength gain is very minimal. (5) With an increase in the StelmorRTM cooling rate from 14°F/s to 26°F/s, there is a substantial increase in the dislocation densities in the wire rods and wires, which is the primary cause of the increase in the tensile strength gain. (6) The effect of carbon percentage on wire tensile strength gain is very minimal.; North Star Steel Texas would benefit substantially from this research by being able to produce better quality wire rods, through better understanding of the factors affecting the tensile strength gain variation. This is expected to lead to a reduction in customer complaints on failure of wire products.