The work deals with dilatometric studies of a new-developed advanced high-strength bainitic 3Mn-1.5Al steel. Ferritic, bainitic and martensitic phase transformations are investigated in detail in respect of their temperature range forming and microstructures produced under various conditions of both continuous and isothermal cooling. The equilibrium temperatures of A e1 and A e3 and phase composition of the investigated steel were initially calculated whereas critical temperatures of A c1 and A c3 as well as the decomposition of retained austenite were determined upon heating. The major tests consisted of controlled cooling of undeformed or plastically deformed austenite using the dilatometer within the cooling rate range of 2-0.5°C s -1 . The effects of the cooling rate and deformation at temperatures of 900 and 1,050°C on the phase transformation behaviour and microstructure were explained. The final experiment was carried out using a thermo-mechanical simulator under conditions of multistep deformation and isothermal holding of the steel at 400°C. Microstructural features were revealed using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques.

WALCOWANE TERMOMECHANICZNIE STALE ŚREDNIOMANGANOWE ZAWIERAJĄCE AUSTENIT SZCZĄTKOWYChemical composition of four medium-Mn steels containing a various Mn content (3 and 5%) have been proposed in the present work. The two steels are base steels whereas the other two contain Nb microaddition. Thermomechanical rolling tests of 3.3 mm sheets have been carried out using a semi-industrial hot strip rolling line. Detailed investigations of the identification of structural constituents using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques have been performed. X-ray method has been applied to determine an amount of retained austenite and its C content. Significant microstructural parameters were revealed using an EBSD technique. It was found that the Mn addition affects strongly a microstructure type, stability of retained austenite and mechanical properties determined with a static tensile test. The steels containing 3% Mn are characterized by a good combination of strength and ductility whereas the tensile strength up to 1300 MPa is possible to obtain for the higher Mn content steels.Keywords: medium-Mn steel, bainitic steel, thermomechanical rolling, retained austenite stability, controlled cooling W pracy zaprojektowano cztery składy chemiczne stali średniomanganowych zawierających 3 i 5% Mn. Dwie stale to stale bazowe, a pozostałe dwie zawierają mikrododatek Nb. Przeprowadzono próby walcowania termomechanicznego taśm o grubości 3.3 mm, stosując półprzemysłową linię walcowania na gorąco. Przeprowadzono szczegółowe badania identyfikacji składników strukturalnych z zastosowaniem mikroskopii świetlnej i skaningowej mikroskopii elektronowej. Udział austenitu szczątkowego i stężenie C w tej fazie wyznaczono metodą rentgenowską. Metoda EBSD została użyta do ilościowego wyznaczenia istotnych parametrów mikrostrukturalnych. Stwierdzono, że dodatek Mn ma silny wpływ na rodzaj otrzymanej mikrostruktury, stabilizację austenitu szczątkowego oraz własności mechaniczne wyznaczone w statycznej próbie rozciągania. Stale zawierające 3% Mn charakteryzują się dobrym połączeniem wytrzymałości i plastyczności, a stale o wyższym stężeniu Mn pozwalają uzyskać wytrzymałość na rozciąganie do 1300 MPa.

The study was devoted to the hot‐working behavior and the microstructure evolution of four thermomechanically processed Mn–Al‐alloyed multiphase steels. Determination of the hot deformation resistance of investigated steels was carried out on the basis of continuous compression, double‐hit compression, and seven‐step compression tests simulating conditions of hot strip rolling. The experiments were carried out using the Gleeble 3800 thermomechanical simulator. The physical simulation of hot strip rolling consisted of seven deformation steps characterized by decreasing strain, temperature, and interpass time whereas the strain rate values were gradually increased. A special attention was paid to the effect of Nb microaddition on the hot‐working behavior and microstructure evolution with the finishing hot‐working temperature varying in a range from 950 to 750°C. Morphological features of a bainite‐based matrix and retained austenite were identified using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. A fraction of retained austenite was determined by X‐ray diffraction. The increase in the Mn content increases the softening kinetics of austenite. It was also found that the best conditions for thermal stabilization of retained austenite occur at 950°C for the steels containing 3% Mn.

Effects of isothermal holding time and temperature on the stability of retained austenite in medium manganese bainitic steels with and without Nb microaddition were investigated. The amount of retained austenite for various variants of thermomechanical processing was determined by X-ray diffraction. Relationships between processing conditions and microstructure were revealed using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The isothermal holding temperatures changed from 500 to 300 °C and the time was from 60 to 1800 s. The optimal time and temperature of isothermal holding for all the investigated steels were 400 °C and 300 s, respectively. The relationships between the Mn content, amount of retained austenite, and carbon enrichment of the retained austenite (RA) were observed. The noticeable effect of Nb microaddition on the amount of retained austenite was not observed. In general, the carbon content in RA was slightly lower for the steels containing Nb. The optimum gamma phase amount was up to 18% for the 3% Mn steels, whereas it was c.a. 13% for the steels with 5% Mn. It was found that the morphology of blocky/interlath retained austenite depends substantially on the isothermal holding temperature.

The thermomechanical processing of certain AHSS still represents a challenge due to the lack of complete data on their hot deformation behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide data on the hot-working behaviour of four model steels of the type 0.17C-3Mn-1.5Al and 0.17C-5Mn-1.5Al with or without Nb microaddition. The paper presents the results of hot strip rolling simulated by multi-step compression tests using a Gleeble simulator. Analysis of microstructural features of steels with focusing on Mn and Nb contents was carried out using X-ray, LM (light microscopy) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). It has been shown that the applied deformation schedule allows to develop very fine-grained transformation products of supercooled austenite and controlled cooling with isothermal holding at 400°C enables to retain from 13 to 18% of retained austenite with the blocky or lath-type morphology. Mn alloying in the amount of 3 to 5 wt.% does not affect hot deformation resistance contrary to Nb microaddition, which raises flow stress levels. Influences of Mn and Nb on the retained austenite content and its carbon content are discussed.