Ultra Fine-grained 6wt% Manganese TRIP Steel

Abstract

Ultra-fine grained TRIP steels (UFG-TRIP) containing 6wt%Mn were produced by intercritical annealing. An ultra-fine grained microstructure with a grain size less than 1 mu m was obtained. The formation mechanism of the high volume fraction of retained austenite was investigated by dilatometry, XRD and magnetic saturation. The fraction of retained austenite was strongly dependent on the annealing temperature. The tensile properties were also found to be strongly influenced by the annealing temperature with poorer mechanical properties being observed at higher annealing temperatures. It was found that the stabilization of the retained austenite was both a composition and size-effect, made possible by the grain refinement due to the reversely transformed martensite.