Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of new cold-rolled automotive steels

Abstract

The effect of austenitizing temperature and aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of two new cold-rolled automotive steel plates (20Mn2Cr and 20Mn2CrNb) was investigated by using isothermal heat treatment, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, microhardness tester, and tensile testing machine. The results show that as the austenitizing temperature increased, the original austenite grain sizes of both steels increased. The original austenite grain size of 20Mn2CrNb was smaller than that of 20Mn2Cr. The microhardness of 20Mn2CrNb gradually decreased with increasing aging temperature, while the hardness of 20Mn2Cr varied irregularly. The mechanical properties of 20Mn2Cr were better than those of 20Mn2CrNb under the same heat-treatment process. The effect of heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties was related to the martensite content, dislocation density, and precipitation of second-phase particles.