Shielded metal arc welding and welding thermal simulation experiment were carried out for constructional steel containing 0% V and 0.10% V, and the microstructure, precipitation feature, microhardness HV0.2, and −20 °C impact value in the welding heat affected zone (HAZ) were investigated. The results showed that in the coarse-grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ), V and N were completely dissolved in the matrix of steel containing 0.10% V to promote the growth of prior austenite grains, meanwhile the fraction of high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) decreased, thereby leading to the mean −20 °C impact value decreases from 87 J to 18 J. In the grain refined heat affected zone (GRHAZ), V(C, N) precipitates experience re-dissolution and re-precipitation at grain boundaries, V–N microalloying changes the microstructure from lath bainite + granular bainite + small amount of polygonal ferrite to polygonal ferrite + pearlite + martensite, thereby leading to the mean microhardness decreases from 335 HV0.2 to 207 HV0.2, and the mean −20 °C impact value decreased from 117 J to 103 J. In the intercritical heat affected zone (ICHAZ), V(C, N) precipitates experience re-dissolution, re-precipitation, and growth, causing the formation of micro-sized V(C, N) precipitates, thereby leading to the mean −20 °C impact value decreases from 93 J to 62 J.

Hot stamping is a well-known process to produce structural automotive parts with an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. However, this process is more expensive due to the lower energy efficiency and operating cost of the traditional roller-hearth furnace. Additionally, lower ductility and toughness are commonly recognized as the main disadvantages of the current hot stamped ultra-high-strength parts. Refinement of austenite grains could be a profitable way to improve the strength of hot stamped parts. In this work, the evolution of reversed transformation in asymmetrically cryogenically rolled samples was studied in order to control the austenite. Thermomechanical simulation and heat treatment in the salt bath were used to investigate the reversed transformation process, and the typical microstructures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared with symmetric prerolling, ferrite recrystallization could be remarkably inhibited by asymmetric rolling at the liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT) during the reheating process. Additionally, the nucleation of the austenite inner grains can also be promoted and the dynamics of the reversed transformation accelerated by asymmetric prerolling. Such phenomena might be very useful to refine the parent austenite grains before press hardening and enhance the new hot stamping strategy by partial fast reheating.