Mechanical and thermal stability of retained austenite in plastically deformed bainite-based TRIP-aided medium-Mn steels

Advanced medium-Mn sheet steels show an opportunity for the development of cost-effective and light-weight automotive parts with improved safety and optimized environmental performance. These steels utilize the strain-induced martensitic transformation of metastable retained austenite to improve the strength-ductility balance. The improvement of mechanical performance is related to the tailored thermal and mechanical stabilities of retained austenite. The mechanical stability of retained austenite was estimated in static tensile tests over a wide temperature range from 20 degrees C to 200 degrees C. The thermal stability of retained austenite during heating at elevated temperatures was assessed by means of dilatometry. The phase composition and microstructure evolution were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques. It was shown that the retained austenite stability shows a pronounced temperature dependence and is also stimulated by the manganese addition in a 3-5% range.