Achieving High Plasticity and High Toughness of Low-Carbon Low-Alloy Steel through Intercritical Heat Treatment

Abstract

Medium manganese steel has excellent comprehensive properties due to the TRIP effect of retained austenite, but its welding performance is unsatisfactory for its high alloy content. This study obtained retained austenite in low-carbon low-alloy steel with low contents of silicon and manganese elements through intercritical heat treatment. The influence of intercritical quenching temperature on the content and characteristics of the retained austenite, as well as the functional mechanism of the retained austenite during low-temperature impact, was studied. The results showed that the content of the retained austenite increased from 12% to 17%, and its distribution extended from grain boundaries to martensite lath boundaries, with increasing intercritical quenching temperature. The retained austenite on the grain boundaries was in blocks, and that on the martensitic lath boundaries formed slender domains. The stability of the retained austenite was achieved through the enrichment of C and Mn during intercritical heat treatment. The contribution of retained austenite to low-temperature mechanical properties was closely related to its stability. The retained austenite with poor stability underwent martensite transformation at low temperatures, and the high-carbon martensite was a brittle phase that became the nucleation site of cracks or the path of crack growth during impact. Stable retained austenite passivated crack tips and hindered crack propagation during impacts, which improved the impact performance of the steel.