Carbon enrichment of austenite in 0.362C-1.38Si-1.24Mn steel via quenching and partitioning (Q&P) and austempering process

A considerable enrichment of the austenite with carbon increases its thermal stability at room temperature. Carbon-enriched retained austenite is beneficial for formability and energy absorption of the steel due to TRIP phenomenon during the deformation. Two proposed mechanisms to enrich the austenite phase with carbon include: (I) partitioning of the excess carbon atoms from supersaturated martensite to untransformed austenite after quenching below the martensite start temperature (Ms) and (II) partitioning of the supersaturating carbon atoms into the adjacent austenite after the bainitic transformation. In this work, both mechanisms are experimentally investigated in 0.362C-1.38Si-1.24Mn steel with X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and the microstructural evolutions during processes are studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

کلیدواژه ها:

Quenching & partitioning ، austempering ، retained austenite