Unraveling the Effect of Homogenization Treatment on Decomposition of Austenite and Mechanical Properties of Low-Alloyed TRIP Steel

Abstract

The homogenization treatment is shown to have profound effects on the decomposition of austenite, suppression of microstructural banding, and work-hardening capacity of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. Due to the similarity in the activity of carbon in different parts of the parent austenite phase and its extremely coarse grain size, a nearly full homogenization annealing results in the massive-like transformation during subsequent decomposition of austenite at slow cooling rates.