| TRIP (Transformation Induced Plasticity) steels are under development for automotive applications that require high strength and excellent formability. Conventional TRIP steels consist of a multiphase microstructure comprised of a ferrite matrix with a dispersion of bainite and metastable retained austenite. The high ductility exhibited by these steels results from the transformation of the metastable retained austenite to martensite during straining. In conventional TRIP steel processing, the multiphase microstructure is obtained by controlled cooling from the alpha + gamma region to an isothermal holding temperature. During this holding, bainite forms and carbon is rejected out into the austenite, which lowers the Ms temperature and stabilizes the austenite to room temperature.; In this research project, a fundamental study of a low-Si, Mo-Nb added cold rolled TRIP steel with and without Al additions was conducted. In this study, the recrystallization of cold-rolled ferrite, the formation of austenite during intercritical annealing and the characteristics of the decomposition of the intercritically annealed austenite by controlled cooling rates were systematically assessed. Of special interest were: (i) the effect of the initial hot band microstructure, (ii) the formation of epitaxial ferrite during cooling from the intercritical annealing temperature to the isothermal holding temperature, (iii) the influence of the intercritically annealed austenite on the formation of bainite during the isothermal holding temperature, and (iv) the influence of the processing variables on the type, amount, composition and stability of the retained austenite. During this research study, techniques such as OM, SEM, EBSD, TEM, XRD and Magnetometry were used to fully characterize the microstructures. Furthermore, a Gleeble 3500 unit at US Steel Laboratories was used for dilatometry studies and to simulate different CGL processing routes, from which specimens were obtained to evaluate the mechanical properties. |
