Effect of austenite reverted transformation-annealing heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe–0.14C–5Mn–1Al–Ce steel
Microstructure and mechanical properties of medium-Mn steel (Fe–0.14C–5Mn–1Al–Ce) processed by different austenite reverted transformation-annealing temperatures vary from 580 °C to 740 °C were studied. It was found that the austenite reverted transformation-annealing temperature has a strong effect on microstructure evolution. The martensite structure was transformed into austenite by austenite reverted transformation during the austenite reverted transformation-annealing process. The orientation relationship between the austenite and the matrix was dominated by the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation. With the increase of the austenite reverted transformation-annealing temperature, the content of retained austenite first increases and then decreases at room temperature. The tensile strength first decreases and then increases, while the elongation first increases and then decreases. An excellent combination of tensile strength and elongation (Rm × A) was obtained in the Fe–0.14C–5Mn–1Al–Ce steel by austenite reverted transformation-annealing at 640 °C.