Recrystallization Controlling in a Cold-Rolled Medium Mn Steel and Its Effect on Mechanical Properties

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2022.00350

Acta Metall Sin

2024, Vol. 60

Issue (2): 189-200 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2022.00350

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Recrystallization Controlling in a Cold-Rolled Medium Mn Steel and Its Effect on Mechanical Properties

HU Baojia¹^,², ZHENG Qinyuan¹^,², LU Yi¹^,², JIA Chunni¹, LIANG Tian³, ZHENG Chengwu¹(

), LI Dianzhong¹(

)

1 Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, China
3 CAS Key Laboratory of Nuclear Materials and Safety Assessment, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

Cite this article:

HU Baojia, ZHENG Qinyuan, LU Yi, JIA Chunni, LIANG Tian, ZHENG Chengwu, LI Dianzhong. Recrystallization Controlling in a Cold-Rolled Medium Mn Steel and Its Effect on Mechanical Properties. Acta Metall Sin, 2024, 60(2): 189-200.

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Abstract

Owing to the excellent combination of specific strength and ductility, medium Mn steels (MMSs) with Mn contents of 3%-12% (mass fraction) are considered the most promising candidates for the third-generation advanced high-strength steel. The combination of excellent strength-ductility is mainly attributed to the active transformation-induced plasticity effect of the metastable retained austenite during deformation. Therefore, producing a considerable amount of retained austenite with reasonable stabilities in the steel by various heat treatment schedules is always important. In this study, granular- and lamellar-structured retained austenites were developed in a cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS by introducing a technical process of precontrolling ferrite recrystallization in the annealing schedule. The microstructures of the annealed samples were analyzed using SEM, EBSD, and TEM. The results show that duplex microstructures comprising various amounts of recrystallized ferrite and fresh martensite can be obtained in the cold-rolled MMS when controlling the occurrence of recrystallization at different intercritical temperatures by a preannealing process. When this microstructure is used for the final austenite reverted transformation annealing, the resultant ultrafine duplex microstructure with recrystallized ferrite and two types of heterogeneous retained austenite, i.e., lamellar and granular, is produced. The heterogeneous-structured austenite shows more sensitivity to increasing strain, i.e., various mechanical stabilities, which enable an excellent strength-ductility combination and reduced Lüders strain in the cold-rolled medium Mn steel.

Key words: cold-rolled medium Mn steel ferrite recrystallization retained austenite TRIP effect mechanical property

Received: 20 July 2022

ZTFLH:

TG142

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52071322)

Corresponding Authors: ZHENG Chengwu, professor, Tel: (024)23971973, E-mail: cwzheng@imr.ac.cn;
LI Dianzhong, professor, Tel: (024)23971281, E-mail: dzli@imr.ac.cn

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	HU Baojia
	ZHENG Qinyuan
	LU Yi
	JIA Chunni
	LIANG Tian
	ZHENG Chengwu
	LI Dianzhong

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2022.00350 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2024/V60/I2/189

Fig.1 Schematic of the thermal cycles used for the heat treatment of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn medium Mn steel (MMS) (A_e3—the highest temperature at which ferrite and austenite phases can coexist in equilibrium. A_e1—the lowest temperature at which ferrite, cementite, and austenite phases can coexist in equilibrium in the steel. ART—austenite reverted transformation)

Fig.2 SEM images (a-c) and TEM bright-field images (d-f) showing the microstructures of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS pre-annealed at 680^oC (a, d), 700^oC (b, e), and 720^oC (c, f) (α—ferrite, M—martensite)

Fig.3 EBSD band contrast images (a-c) and kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps (d-f) of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS pre-annealed at 680^oC (a, d), 700^oC (b, e), and 720^oC (c, f) (The red, green, and blue lines represent boundaries with misorientations of 2° < θ < 5°, 5° ≤ θ < 15°, and θ ≥ 15°, respectively)

Fig.4 SEM images (a-d) and TEM bright-field images (e-h) showing the final microstructures of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS (γ_G—globular retained austenite, γ_L—lath-like retained austenite) (a, e) R-ART680 (b, f) R-ART700 (c, g) R-ART720 (d, h) ART650

Fig.5 XRD spectra and the measured fractions of retained austenite of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS (V_γ —volume fraction of austenite)

Fig.6 Engineering stress-strain curves of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS treated by various thermal cycles

Fig.7 Schematics showing the microstructure evolution during final ART processes after pre-annealing at intercritical temperatures of 680^oC (a), 700^oC (b), and 720^oC (c) of the cold-rolled MMS

Fig.8 STEM images showing the refined microstructures of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMS after the pre-annealing at 700^oC (a) and then after the final ART heat treatment (b)

Fig.9 Work hardening rate curves of the cold-rolled 0.15C-5Mn MMSs treated by various thermal cycles (Insets show corresponding engineering stress-strain curves as comparisons. YPE—yield point elongation)

Fig.10 True stress-true strain curve with the corresponding work hardening rate curve (a), EBSD phase distribution maps (b-d) and geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) maps (e-g) of the R-ART700 sample when stretching to true strains of ε = 0.0 (b, e), 0.05 (c, f), and 0.10 (d, g), respectively (The white circle areas are identified as the prior globular retained austenite areas, and the black circle area is identified as the prior lath-like retained austenite area)

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