Precipitation Behavior of Vanadium Carbide During Proeutectoid Ferrite and Pearlite Transformation and its Inheritance During Subsequent Austenitization in a 2000 MPA Grade Hot‐Stamping Steel

Adding vanadium to form carbides enhances the mechanical properties of hot‐stamping steel. During production (involving processes such as hot rolling, coiling, cold rolling, annealing, reaustenitization, and die quenching), vanadium carbide (VC) precipitation evolves with phase transformations. Coiling, accompanied by proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite formation, is the main stage of VC formation. This study investigates VC precipitation behavior during coiling at 600 and 550 °C and its evolution during reaustenitization. At 600 °C, VC precipitation in pearlitic ferrite is suppressed, leading to uneven distribution between proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite. At 550 °C, more V‐rich clusters form in pearlitic ferrite, ensuring uniform distribution. Lower temperatures inhibit vanadium partitioning between pearlitic ferrite and cementite, promoting nucleation in pearlitic ferrite lamellae. After reaustenitization, both samples inherit their size and distribution characteristics, with the 550 °C sample showing a more uniform and denser precipitate distribution, resulting in a precipitate number density more than three times higher, while maintaining an average precipitate size below 7 nm.