Phase transition and defect relaxation behavior in a medium manganese steel

Abstract

Phase transition and defect relaxation behavior of a Fe-7Mn-0.1C medium manganese steel have been systematically studied mainly by using internal friction (IF) technique. From temperature-dependent IF curves in both heating and cooling processes, two relaxation IF peaks (the P1 located at ~ 200 °C on heating and the P2 at ~ 550 °C on cooling) and two phase transition IF peaks (the Ptr1 located at ~ 670 °C on heating and the Ptr2 at ~ 300 °C on cooling) were observed. The P1 peak disappears when the cementite (θ) particles and/or retained austenite (γR) exist in the microstructure, and is associated with the Snoek-Kê-Köster relaxation (SKK relaxation). The P2 peak is suggested to be originated from grain boundary relaxation in austenite (γ). The formation mechanisms of the Ptr1 and the Ptr2 come from reverse austenitic transformation (RAT) and martensitic transformation (MT), respectively. In addition, the apparent asymmetry of the Ptr1, the variation of peak height, the difference between the Ptr1 and Ptr2 peaks, and the effect of IF studies on the mechanical properties are discussed in detail in the present work. These results provide a valuable reference for the design of high-performance medium Mn steels.