Abstract: Steel compositions and processes are described that provide optimum resistance to austenite grain coarsening in cold-formed and carburized components for automotive and machine structural applications. The steel compositions include, in weight percent, 0.1-0.3% C 150-220 ppm N and a grain refining addition selected from the group consisting of Al, V plus Al and Nb plus Al, the balance comprising iron and other alloying elements typically found in carburizing grades of steel. The steels are processed by reheating to a temperature in the vicinity of solution temperature of the least soluble species of grain refining precipitate and then hot worked. The hot-worked steel is cooled at an accelerated rate to 500° C. and then subcritically annealed, cold formed in at least one operation with intermediate anneals subcritically annealed after the last cold-forming operation, and carburized quenched and tempered (6).

Abstract: Compositions and methods of processing have been developed to optimize the impact toughness of heat-treated, low-alloy steels. The disclosed ranges of steel composition provide a lightly-tempered martensitic microstructure in which grain-refining precipitate forming elements such as titanium and aluminum are essentially absent and the content of iron/alloy carbides retained through the hardening operation is minimized through the application of an appropriate heat treatment wherein austenitizing takes place at temperatures of about 900° C. or above followed by quenching and lightly tempering at about 180° C.