Microstructural evolution during the progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect in a Fe–0.1C–5Mn medium manganese steel

Mei Zhang; Wenhao Li; Yangfei Chen; Yang Jiang; Xiaofei Guo; Han Dong

doi:10.1007/s12613-024-2963-z

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Mei Zhang, Wenhao Li, Yangfei Chen, Yang Jiang, Xiaofei Guo, and Han Dong, Microstructural evolution during the progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect in a Fe–0.1C–5Mn medium manganese steel, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.,(2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-024-2963-z

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Mei Zhang, Wenhao Li, Yangfei Chen, Yang Jiang, Xiaofei Guo, and Han Dong, Microstructural evolution during the progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect in a Fe–0.1C–5Mn medium manganese steel, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.,(2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-024-2963-z

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Research Article

Microstructural evolution during the progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect in a Fe–0.1C–5Mn medium manganese steel

+ Author Affiliations

Corresponding authors:
Mei Zhang    E-mail: zmei@shu.edu.cn

Xiaofei Guo    E-mail: xiaofei_guo@shu.edu.cn

Han Dong    E-mail: 13910077790@163.com
Received: 30 April 2024; Revised: 25 June 2024; Accepted: 28 June 2024; Available online: 2 July 2024

Abstract

Abstract

In this study, the microstructural evolution of a cold-rolled and intercritical annealed medium-Mn steel (Fe–0.10C–5Mn) was investigated during uniaxial tensile testing. In-situ observations under scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis were conducted to characterize the progressive transformation-induced plasticity process and associated fracture initiation mechanisms. These findings were discussed with the local strain measurements via digital image correlation. The results indicated that Lüders band formation in the steel was limited to 1.5% strain, which was mainly due to the early-stage martensitic phase transformation of a very small amount of the less stable large-sized retained austenite (RA), which led to localized stress concentrations and strain hardening and further retardation of yielding. The small-sized RA exhibited high stability and progressively transformed into martensite and contributed to a stably extended Portevin–Le Chatelier effect. The volume fraction of RA gradually decreased from 26.8% to 8.2% prior to fracture. In the late deformation stage, fracture initiation primarily occurred at the austenite/martensite and ferrite/martensite interfaces and the ferrite phase.
- medium-Mn steel;
- retained austenite;
- progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect;
- local strain;
- fracture initiation

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