Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of ultra-low oxygen 718H Pre-hardened mold steel with varying high purity Ce and La contents

718H Pre-hardened mold steels with different Rare Earth (RE) contents were prepared to investigate the influence of RE on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties through a series of experiments and theoretical analysis. The results indicated that the toal oxygen (T.O) content decreased from 15 ppm to 6 ppm with 0.022 wt% RE addition, which is attributed to the active chemical properties of RE elements. For test steels, RE additions of 0.012 wt% and 0.022 wt% were significantly effective for refining inclusions by eliminating 11.5% large-sized inclusions with diameter exceeding 10 μm compared with that of 0RE steel. RE addition contributed to modify irregular MnS and Al2O3 inclusions into ellipsoidal RE-inclusions (RE2O3, RES, RE2O2S and REAlO3). The purification of molten steel and the modification of inclusions by RE treatment have significant effects on improvement of the fatigue crack growth tests (FCG) inhibition ability and impact energy as well as the isotropy. However, excessive addition of RE elements (0.07 wt%) seriously reduced the impact energy, ultimate tensile strength and FCG inhibition ability due to rapidly increase of the volume fraction of large-sized inclusions. In addition to the inclusions formed by RE treatment, trace solid solution RE atoms improve the stability of undercooled austenite, resulting in the transformation region of bainite and perlite of 0.07RE steel shifting to the bottom right and prolonging the incubation period compared with that of 0RE steel.