Isothermal bainitic transformation of a lean medium-Mn steel containing (in mass%) 0.18C–3.6Mn–1.7Al–0.23Si–0.2Mo–0.04–Nb after full austenitization at 1100 ºC was studied by means of high resolution dilatometry. The effects of isothermal holding temperatures ranging from 450 to 350 °C on the bainitic transformation kinetics was studied experimentally characterizing the microstructure present after a holding time ranging from 15 min to 2 h. The obtained results showed that the bainitic transformation is uncompleted at temperatures above 425 °C. The carbon enrichment of the austenite during isothermal treatment at 450 °C and 425 °C is not enough to avoid martensitic transformation of the austenite during cooling to room temperature. Thus, it is obtained a mixed structure including bainitic ferrite and martensite. Decreasing the austempering temperature resulted in a more pronounced bainite formation. The kinetics of the transformation during austempering at 350ºC is quite similar to that observed at 400 °C, so that 60 min are needed in both cases to complete the reaction. However, local variations in chemical composition associated to segregation of Mn and Al during casting solidification results in differences in the transformation rate of bainitic reaction between different areas in the material. A balance difference between the dendritic and interdendritic areas is responsible for the differences observed among test samples in the kinetics of the isothermal bainitic transformation and the final microstructure.

The work addresses physical simulation and dilatometric study of one-step and double-step heat treatments of medium-Mn steel designed for automotive sheets. The conventional one-step isothermal bainitic transformation was applied as the reference heat treatment. The newly implemented heat treatment consisted of isothermal holding in a bainitic region followed by additional holding of the material at reduced temperature also in the bainitic range. This step was added to refine the microstructure, which led to the stabilization of the retained austenite. Calculations of equilibrium state and non-equilibrium cooling and simulations of the developed thermal cycles were performed using the thermodynamic JMatPro software. The physical simulations of the heat treatment were performed in the dilatometer. The obtained samples were subjected to microscopic observations using light and SEM microscopy. One- and two-step heat treatments allowed to obtain bainitic structures with high contents of retained austenite. Lowering the temperature of one-step isothermal holding resulted in the bainite refinement and adjacent retained austenite. The increased Mn content in steel increased its susceptibility to form coalesced bainite resulting in the partial formation of thicker plates despite a decrease in a process temperature.

The work presents the results of thermodynamic analysis of two medium manganese steels with different Mn contents. The steels containing 3.1 and 3.6% of manganese were subjected to theoretical thermodynamic calculations using MUCG83 software and dilatometric experiments. The steels were heat-treated in two different isothermal holding temperatures of 400 and 350 °C for 15 min. The bainite transformation kinetics at different temperatures for different manganese contents was investigated. In the steel including 3.1% Mn, a complete transformation was obtained. The results indicated a strong influence of the holding temperature on the kinetics of bainitic transformation. It was related to the driving force of this process. When the manganese content was increased by 0.5%, an incomplete bainite transformation occurred. The microstructure investigations after heat treatment were performed using light and scanning electron microscopy. The XRD analysis to determine retained austenite amount and its carbon enrichment was performed. The microstructure of 3MnNb steel consisted of bainite and retained austenite with filmlike and blocky morphologies. The steel with the higher Mn content contained also fresh martensite for both isothermal holding temperatures.

The thermal stability of nanostructured microstructures consisting of a mixture of bainitic ferrite and carbon-enriched retained austenite has been studied in two steels containing 0.6 C (wt %) by tempering cycles of 1 h at temperatures ranging from 450 to 650 °C. Volume changes due to microstructural transformations during thermal treatments were measured by high-resolution dilatometry. The correlation of these results with the detailed microstructural characterization performed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope examination showed a sequence of different decomposition events beginning with the precipitation of very fine cementite particles. This precipitation, which starts in the austenite thin films and then continues in retained austenite blocks, decreases the carbon content in this phase so that fresh martensite can form from the low-carbon austenite on cooling to room temperature. In a subsequent tempering stage, the remaining austenite decomposes into ferrite and cementite, and due to carbide precipitation, the bainitic ferrite loses its tetragonality, its dislocation density is reduced, and the bainitic laths coarsen.

Tempering heat treatments are commonly used in steels with elevated hardness and fragility with the aim of varying their mechanical properties by decreasing the residual stress and also reducing the matrix carbon supersaturation by means of controlled precipitation, secondary hardening. The final outcome usually is an increase in ductility and toughness scarifying only small levels of strength as compared to the as quench microstructure. To obtain the desired secondary hardening effect, it is necessary to control the tempering conditions and to include, in the chemical composition of the steels, judicious quantities of strong carbonitride and intermetallic forming elements as Mo, V and Cr.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Sidenor S.A. for providing the material used in this work. The authors also acknowledge the support by the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel under the contract RFCS-2016-754070 and the supports of the following laboratories at CENIM: X-Ray diffraction, Metallography and Phase Transformations.

Low temperature bainite consists of an intimate mixture of bainitic ferrite and retained austenite, usually obtained by isothermal treatments at temperatures close to the martensite start temperature and below the bainite start temperature. There is widespread belief regarding the extremely long heat treatments necessary to achieve such a microstructure, but still there are no unified and objective criteria to determine the end of the bainitic transformation that allow for meaningful results and its comparison. A very common way to track such a transformation is by means of a high-resolution dilatometer. The relative change in length associated with the bainitic transformation has a very characteristic sigmoidal shape, with low transformation rates at the beginning and at end of the transformation but rapid in between. The determination of the end of transformation is normally subjected to the ability and experience of the “operator” and is therefore subjective. What is more, in the case of very long heat treatments, like those needed for low temperature bainite (from hours to days), differences in the criteria used to determine the end of transformation might lead to differences that might not be assumable from an industrial point of view. This work reviews some of the most common procedures and attempts to establish a general criterion to determine the end of bainitic transformation, based on the differential change in length (transformation rate) derived from a single experiment. The proposed method has been validated by means of the complementary use of hardness measurements, X-ray diffraction and in situ high energy X-ray diffraction.