Thermal deformation has a significant influence on the microstructure of high-strength antiseismic steel. The effect of hot deformation on the microstructure of experimental steel was studied by the Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator. The microstructure of the steel was characterized by the metallographic microscope, microhardness, tensile test, field emission scanning electron microscope, electron backscatter diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. The results show that the core microstructure of the test steel is composed of polygonal ferrite and lamellar pearlite. The test steel is mainly ductile fracture. Tensile strength and hardness increase with the decrease of temperature. At 650 °C isothermal temperature, the ferrite distribution was uniform, the average grain size was 7.78 μm, the grain size grade reached 11, the pearlite lamellar spacing was 0.208 μm, and the tensile fracture was distributed with uniform equiaxed dimples. Polygonal ferrite grain boundaries have high density dislocations that can effectively block the initiation and propagation of cracks. However, there are some low dislocation boundaries and subgrain boundaries in ferrite grains. Precipitation strengthening is mainly provided by fine precipitates of V-rich carbonitride in experimental steel. The precipitates are round or narrow strips, about 70–100 nm in size, distributed along ferrite grain boundaries and matrix.

The research progress surrounding second-phase particle-induced corrosion has been expounded through extensive work, including local corrosion (pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, stress corrosion) of Al₂O₃, (RE)-AlO₃, CaS, MnS, NbC, and other particles in microalloyed high-strength rebars. By summarizing the local corrosion mechanism of these particle-induced rebars, this review further explores the fact that these particles play an inducing role in the local corrosion of microalloyed high-strength rebars, which has guiding significance for research on the induced corrosion of microalloyed high-strength rebars.

In this study, SEM, AFM, TEM, XPS, and electrochemical tests are used to study the passivation behavior of chromium alloyed high-strength rebar in simulated concrete pore (SCP) solutions with different pH values. The results show that after passivation in SCP solution with different pH values, the passivating film on the surface of the chromium alloyed rebar primarily consists of a layer of nanoscale oxide particles, which makes the passive film exhibit a p-n type semi-conductor, and the passive film presents a rhombohedral crystal structure. As the pH value of the SCP solution decreases, the nanoscale oxide particles on the surface of the rebar become denser, which leads to a reduction in the carrier density (N_q and N_a) of the passive film and an increase in film resistance (R₂) and charge transfer resistance (R₃), thus increasing the corrosion resistance of the passive film. The passive film on the surface of the chromium alloyed high-strength rebar predominantly exhibits a three-layer structure, the outer passive film layer is composed of Fe oxides, the stable layer of the passive film is composed of Fe oxides and Cr oxides, and the growth layer of inner passive film is composed of Cr oxides. Compared with passivation 10 d in SCP solutions with pH 13.5 and pH 12.5, the passive film on the surface of the rebar has good stability at pH 10.5, which indicates that the addition of Cr is beneficial to promote the corrosion resistance of the rebar.

Seismic anti-seismic rebar, as materials for supporting structures in large buildings, need to have excellent mechanical properties. By increasing the Nb content and controlling the cooling rate, the microstructure and precipitation behavior of the steel are adjusted to develop seismic anti-seismic rebar with excellent mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a universal tensile testing machine were used to characterize the microstructure, precipitation phases, and mechanical properties of the experimental steels. The results show that the ferrite grain size, pearlite lamellae layer (ILS), and small-angle grain boundaries (LAGB) content of the high-Nb steels decreased to 6.39 μm, 0.12 μm, and 48.7%, respectively, as the Nb content was increased from 0.017 to 0.023 wt.% and the cooling rate was increased from 1 to 3 °C·s⁻¹. The strength of the {332}_α texture is the highest in the high-Nb steels. The precipitated phase is (Nb, Ti, V)C with a diameter of ~50 nm, distributed on ferrite, and the matrix/precipitated phase mismatch is 8.16%, forming a semicommon-lattice interface between the two. The carbon diffusion coefficient model shows that increasing the Nb content can inhibit the diffusion of carbon atoms and reduce the ILS. The yield strength of the high-Nb steel is 556 MPa, and the tensile strength is 764 MPa.

The effects of niobium and composite strengthening on the phase transformation characteristics and precipitation behavior of continuous cooling transformation of high-strength rebar during thermal deformation and subsequent cooling were investigated. The results show that when the cooling rate was within 0.3–5 °C/s, ferrite transformation and pearlite transformation occurred in the experimental steels. The Nb content increased to 0.062 wt.%, and the starting temperature of the ferrite transformation decreased. Meanwhile, the ferrite phase transformation zone gradually expanded, and the pearlite phase transformation zone gradually narrowed with the increase in the cooling rate. When the cooling rate was 1 °C/s, bainite transformation began to occur, and the amount of transformation increased with the increase in the cooling rate. It was found that the main precipitates in the experimental steels were (Nb, Ti, V)C, with an average particle size of about 10–50 nm. When the Nb content was increased to 0.062 wt.% and the cooling rate was increased to 5 °C/s, the ferrite grain size was reduced from 19.5 to 7.5 μm, and the particle size of the precipitate (Nb, Ti, V)C could be effectively reduced. The strength of the steel was significantly improved, but the elongation of the steel was reduced. However, the comprehensive mechanical properties of 0.062 wt.% Nb experimental steel was significantly improved at a cooling rate of 5 °C/s.