A Physical Model for Nucleation and Grain Growth During Static Recrystallization in Steel

A physical model is proposed that describes the evolution of grain size after hot deformation of steel with an austenitic structure. Unlike previous models, the growth kinetics of new and old grains are described by two separate equations, the first of which accounts for a physically justified contribution associated with the nucleation of new grains. Using the example of niobium microalloyed steel, it is demonstrated that, compared with existing approaches, the proposed model provides better quantitative agreement with experimental data, including an accurate description of the nonmonotonic evolution of the mean grain size with time.