Thermodynamics basis of saturation of martensite content during reversion annealing of cold rolled metastable austenitic steel

Abstract

The dependency of martensite content on reversion temperature in a metastable austenitic stainless steel was studied based on the experimental and thermodynamics analyses. It was revealed that the formation and reversion of the strain-induced martensite can be rationalized based on the presence of ferrite phase at equilibrium condition, which explains the metastability of the material. Accordingly, the saturation of the amount of martensite after annealing at moderate temperatures and the dependency of austenite finish temperature on chemical composition were unraveled.