Effect of Ce Content on Microstructure-Toughness Relationship in the Simulated Coarse-Grained Heat-Affected Zone of High-Strength Low-Alloy Steels

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Well done

Author Response

Thank you very much for your appreciation and hard work.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments on the paper:

The manuscript titled: "Significant influence of Ce content on particle characteristics, microstructure and impact toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steels" is very interesting, well written with the new important scientific information. As written it is ready for publications.

There are two remarks that should be considered.

On the first page, starting from line 38, the sentence is duplicated.

Way the authors did not utilize the XRD method to determine the phase constituent in the sample, it is known as the powerful method used for phase identification?

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Very interesting research, written concisely and clearly. Comments for improvement are as follows:

1. The article title is very long. Can the article title be shorter and more concise.
2. "Three investigated steels microalloyed with 0.012, 0.050 and 0.086 wt.% Ce content, were prepared in high-frequency induction furnace." How did you select the levels wt.% Ce content? Why exactly these levels. Clarify further in the article.
3. You did not analyze potential errors.
4. Can multi-criteria evaluation be done.
5. Discuss the possibility of practical application of your results.
6. The conclusions are well written. However, they should be supplemented. Specify the limitations, i.e. shortcomings of the applied methodology. Also, list potential future research.

Author Response

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Reviewer 4 Report

REVIEW

on article

Significant influence of Ce content on particle characteristics, microstructure, and impact toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steels

Cao Yuxin, Wan Xiangliang, Zhou Feng, Wang Yong, Liu Xinbin, Wu Kaiming and Li Guangqiang

SUMMARY

The authors' research aims to study the effect of the cerium content on the characteristics of particles, microstructure, and toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of high-strength low-alloy steels.

The authors chose a rather relevant direction, since high-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) is widely used in pressure vessels, oil and gas pipelines, offshore structures, bridges, and structural beams due to its outstanding combination of high strength, high toughness, and good weldability, which is achieved by optimizing the alloy design in combination with thermomechanical treatment.

The authors have identified the research problem. In recent years, HSLA steel has been generally used with high thermal conductivity welding to reduce costs and improve welding efficiency. However, this causes coarsening of the austenite grains and transformation of the microstructure, deteriorating the toughness of the coarse heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) in HSLA steels. Thus, increasing the CGHAZ toughness of HSLA steels withstand welding with high thermal conductivity is an urgent task.

However, the article has significant drawbacks, which do not yet allow us to recommend it for publication. It is recommended that the paper be rejected and sent for revision. It should be finalized and submitted for re-review.

Below are the notes that need to be corrected.

COMMENTS

1. The Abstract section does not fully reflect the scientific results of the authors' research. Only the empirical data obtained by the authors in the course of experiments are listed. Therefore, it is necessary to present in the Abstract the formulated scientific novelty and the main achievements of the authors. What caused the choice of the direction of research? What specific problem is being addressed in the study?
2. The Abstract consists of the formulation of the research purpose and the results obtained. The abstract should begin with the formulation Background, that is, to reveal the state of the research question. Editors strongly encourage authors to use the following style of structured abstracts, but without headings: (1) Background: Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study; (2) Methods: Describe briefly the main methods or treatments applied; (3) Results: Summarize the article's main findings; and (4) Conclusions: Indicate the main conclusions or interpretations. The abstract should be an objective representation of the article.
3. In the "Introduction" section (lines 38-40), two identical sentences. It is necessary to remove the extra lines.
4. In the Introduction section, the final thesis on the need to study the effect of the cerium content on particle characteristics, microstructure, and toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of high-strength low-alloy steels is unclear. The authors analyzed 17 sources of previously conducted research on the topic of the article. It should be explained in 2-3 sentences why, based on the results of the literary analysis, the authors formulated precisely this purpose.
5. The Introduction should be supplemented with clearly formulated relevance of the research topic, purpose, objectives, scientific novelty, and practical significance.
6. The Materials and Methods section lacks a more detailed description of the methods used in the study. It is necessary to add references to the method for determining samples' viscosity or describing it in the text. There is also no information about the equipment used (manufacturer, city, country, or link). There is no clear separation between materials and methods. It is necessary to supplement and revise this section seriously.
7. The Conclusions section is essentially presented as a duplication of the Results and Discussion sections. That is, only a quantitative characteristic and a qualitative picture of the influence of the cerium content on the characteristics of particles, microstructure, and impact toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of high-strength low-alloy steels are described. The scientific novelty, the practical significance of the research should be reflected. It is not clear from the conclusions whether new fundamental knowledge has been obtained or existing ideas have been developed?
8. The "Discussion" section does not clearly distinguish the work of the authors from the research of other scientists. It is necessary to concretize in 3-5 sentences.
9. The article would undoubtedly benefit if, in the Discussion, it was possible to concretize the scope of application of their developments and proposals recommended by the authors.
10. In References, it is necessary to add literature sources published over the past 5 years (10-15 pieces) by expanding the literature review in the Introduction section and comparing it with many works by other authors in the "Discussion" section. This is necessary for a clearer highlighting of the scientific novelty of the study.
11. In general, a promising empirical groundwork can be noted, but the methodology of scientific research should be improved.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 4 Report

All my comments were taken into account, and necessary corrections were made in the text.