During the past decade, medium carbon microalloyed steels have become increasingly important in the automotive sector. These steels are especially suitable for automobile components such as connecting rods, crankshafts and wheel hubs. Their mechanical properties are generally adequate in most cases although their toughnesses are consistently low. High toughness can be obtained in medium carbon microalloyed bainitic steel (38MnV7) after a careful control of the chemistry and heat thermal treatment. An specific chemical composition of a 38MnV7 steel has been developed, providing impact energies after Charpy-V tests at room temperature as high as 40J (the steel in bainitic state). Present work is oriented to an optimization of the above chemical composition by control of the Transformation Time Temperature (TTT) curves as well as the Precipitation Time Temperatures (PTT) curves of the present microallying elements. To attain this purpose six different casting were prepared, ranging the chemical composition as follows %C: 0.35-0.46, %Mn: 1.33-1.84, %V: 0.066-0.14% and %Ti: 0.010- 0.025. To appropriate design the thermal cycle, TTT curves were determined for each steel at two austenitization conditions, in order to promote fine and large initial grain sizes.. PTT curves were determined by the stress relaxation technique, a method which can be also be used to derive recrystrallization kinetics. All curves, TTT and PTT curves where derived by using a quenching dilatometer Bahr DIL805A/D. While the TTT curves were obtained in a classical way, the relaxation test consist in sample austenization followed by cooling down to the testing temperature. After a short stabilization period of 10s, samples are deformed to different strain levels and then relaxed, i.e. deformation is kept constant and the variation of the stress with the time is recorded. The different deformation levels are selected to evaluate the effect of deformation on precipitation characteristics. The relaxation curves under these conditions gave information about the kinetics of precipitation when there is no plastic deformation and, thus, generation of dislocations involved. Results are finally discussed in terms of the chemical composition, initial microstructure and precipitates interaction.

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