Martensitic Transformation from Ultrafine Grained Austenite Fabricated by ARB in Fe-24Ni-0.3C

Abstract

In this paper, martensitic transformation from ultrafine grained (UFG) austenite fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process in a metastable austenite alloy was studied. Microstructural observations and crystallographic analysis were carried out by FE-SEM/EBSD. The results showed that elongated UFG austenite having 200-300 nm in thickness surrounded by high angle boundaries was obtained after 6 cycles of the ARB process. The martensite transformed from the UFG austenite showed characteristic morphology and texture. The martensite transformation starting (Ms) temperature increased after 1 cycle ARB, which is related to increasing amount of nucleation sites, such as low angle boundaries, introduced during early stage of ARB process. In contrast, by increasing the ARB cycles, Ms temperature decreased. Decreasing the Ms temperature could be correlated to strengthening of austenite by the ARB process.