Characterization of Retained Austenite in Advanced High-Strength Steel

Shouhua Li; Kejian Li; Longzhu Zhang; Yi Feng; Ziquan Liu; Pengjun Cao; Bo Liu; Jiling Dong

doi:10.1155/2023/9565903

Characterization of Retained Austenite in Advanced High-Strength Steel

Scanning. 2023 Apr 17:2023:9565903. doi: 10.1155/2023/9565903. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Shouhua Li¹, Kejian Li², Longzhu Zhang¹, Yi Feng^{3

4}, Ziquan Liu¹, Pengjun Cao², Bo Liu⁵, Jiling Dong²

Affiliations

¹ HBIS Hansteel Technology Center, Handan, Hebei 056015, China.
² School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Chongqing University of Science & Technology, Chongqing 401331, China.
³ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
⁴ China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chongqing 401122, China.
⁵ School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.

Abstract

The retained austenite (RA) in advanced high-strength steels directly affects their plasticity. It is very important for the accurate characterization of their content and types. This paper prepared three specimens with three different Mn contents (1.0%, 1.4%, and 1.7%) that are used to obtain high-strength steel by ultrafast cooling heat treatment. The volume content and distribution of the RA were analysed by an X-ray Debye ring measurement system, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the mechanical tensile test provided the tensile properties and elongation of three specimens. It was finally concluded that when the content of Mn increased, the island-type and thin film-type RA both increased, which may effectively improve the plasticity of the martensitic steels.