A multiphase microstructure comprising of different volume fractions of prior martensite and ultra-fine bainite (bainitic ferrite and retained austenite) was obtained by quenching to certain temperatures, followed by isothermal bainitic transformation. The effect of the prior martensite transformation on the bainitic transformation behavior, microstructures, and mechanical properties were discussed. The results showed that the prior martensite accelerated the subsequent low-temperature bainite transformation, and the incubation period and completion time of the bainite reaction were significantly shortened. This phenomenon was attributed to the enhanced nucleation ratio caused by the introduced strain in austenite, due to the formation of prior martensite and a carbon partitioning between the prior martensite and retained austenite. Moreover, the prior martensite could influence the crystal growth direction of bainite ferrite, refine bainitic ferrite plates, and reduce the dimension of blocky retained austenite, all of which were responsible for improving the mechanical properties of the ultra-fine bainitic steel. When the content of the prior martensite reached 15%, the investigated steels had the best performance, which were 1800 MPa and 21% for the tensile strength and elongation, respectively. Unfortunately, the increased content of the prior martensite could lead to a worsening of the impact toughness.

The effect of peak temperature (T_P) on the microstructure and impact toughness of the welding heat-affected zone (HAZ) of Q690 high-strength bridge steel was studied using a Gleeble-3500 thermal simulation testing machine. The results show that the microstructure of the inter critical heat-affected zone (ICHAZ) was ferrite and bainite. The microstructure of fine grain heat-affected zone (FGHAZ) and coarse grain heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) was lath bainite (LB), lath martensite (LM), and granular bainite (GB), but the microstructure of FGHAZ was finer. With the increase in peak temperature, the content of LB and GB decreased, the content of LM increased, and the lath bundles of LM and LB gradually became coarser. With the increase in peak temperature, the grain size of the original austenite increased significantly, and the impact toughness decreased significantly. When the peak temperature was 800 °C, the toughness was the best. For CGHAZ, the peak temperature should be less than 1200 °C to avoid excessive growth of grain and reduction of mechanical property.