Effect of Retained Austenite on Impact Toughness of the Multi-Phase Bainitic-Martensitic Steel

Abstract

The new class of bainitic steels can present toughness at room temperature greater than traditional quenched and tempered martensitic steel. This is because the microstructure of steel with high Si content (≈1.5wt%) submitted to bainitic transformation is compose of fine plates of bainitic ferrite separated by retained austenite. The inhibition of cementite precipitation leads to the improvement of toughness. The presence of cementite facilitates the nucleation of cracks. Moreover, the blocks of retained austenite are undesirable. This morphology is rather unstable and tends to transform into hard and brittle untempered martensite under the influence of small stress, contributing to a low toughness. However, it was observed in this work that the greater the volume fraction of retained austenite, the greater is the toughness (10-24 J) for multi-phase steel. The values of toughness were independent whether the retained austenite is present on film or block forms. The decrease of toughness values was observed by the tempered samples after the bainitic transformation (10-14 J). This occurred because the blocks of retained austenite decomposed into carbides, martensite and/or bainite.