Microstrain partitioning, transformation induced plasticity, and damage evolution of a third generation medium Mn advanced high strength steel

An experimental Medium Mn (med-Mn) steel (0.15C-5.8Mn-1.8Al-0.71Si) with a martensitic starting microstructure, intercritically annealed at 685 °C for 120s, was discovered to have a large true strain at fracture (ɛf = 0.61) while also meeting established (strength x elongation) targets (28,809 MPa%), sustained monotonic work hardening and prolonged Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) kinetics. This was found by varying the intercritical …