Effect of alloying elements on work hardening behavior in cold drawn hyper-eutectoid steel wires

The effects of alloying elements, Cr and Ni, and transformation temperature on strength and work hardening behavior of cold drawn hyper-eutectoid steel wires were investigated. The Cr addition effectively increased strength and work hardening rate, k/(2λ0)1/2 by refining interlamellar spacing and increasing the Hall–Petch parameter, k. However, the Ni addition caused little change in mechanical properties of strength, work hardening rate and ductility. It was also found that the Hall–Petch parameter, controlling work hardening behavior, was not affected by interlamellar spacing but by the addition of alloying elements. Additionally, the refinement of interlamellar spacing due to low transformation temperature and the Cr addition caused the increase of reduction of area in drawn pearlitic steels.