ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991 ), No. 9, pp.

992-1000

Effects of Silicon and ManganeseAddition on Mechanical Proper-

ties of High-strength Hot-rolled Sheet Steel Containing Retained
Austenite

lchiro Shun'ichi HASHIMOTO

TSUKATANI. and Tsuyoshi INOUE
lron and Steel Research Laboratories, Kobe Steel, Ltd.. Wakinohama-cho.Chuo-ku. Kobe, Hyogo-ken, 651 Japan.
(Received on December28. 1990; accepted in final form on April 26. 1991)

An 80kgf/mm' grade high-strength hot rolled sheet steel with a significantly high product of tensile
strength and total elongation (TSxEl=3000) has been developed by utilizing transformation-induced
plasticity of retained austenite in 0.2•/o carbon sheet steels by optimizing the silicon and manganese content
and hot rolling conditions. Finish rolling temperature and coiling temperature are important factors in terms
of introducing a large amountof retained austenite. Silicon addition over I .O'/o results in a significant increase
in the volume fraction of retained austenite due to the change in second phase from bainite+pearlite to
bainitic ferrite, The maximumvolume fraction of retained austenite and the consequential optimum
combination of tensile strength and ductility is obtained in a 0.2•/oC-2.0'/•Si-1 .50/•Mn steel. The effect of
retained austenite on ductility becomessmall with further addition of manganeseover I .50/•, because the
retained austenite transforms in the early stage of the straining process due to the presence of martensite.

KEYWORDS: hot rolled sheet steel; 80kgf/mm' grade high-strength steel; retained austenite; trans-
formation-induced plasticity; silicon; manganese;strength; elongation; flangeability.

has been established that carbon is one of the most

It
l. Introduction
beneficial elements for retaining austenite. However,
Various types of high-strength sheet steels are used for sheet steels with a high carbon content (over 0.20/0) are
automotive componentsto improve safety and fuel ef- disadvantageous in applications which require spot-
ficiency by reducing vehicle weight. For example, 80- welding. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an ap-
lOOkgf/mm2 grade cold-rolled dual-phase steels have propriate composition of sheet steel containing less
been applied to doorguard bars and bumpers.1) than 0.20/0 carbon.
Dual-phase steels composedof ferrite and martensite The present study has been performed to clarify the
have a number of unique properties, including good effect of retained austenite on tensile properties and
combinations of strength and formability.2) Recently, stretch flangeability and its optimumvolume fraction to
the reduction of manufacturing costs for moderate to obtain a hot-rolled high-strength sheet steel with extra
high-strength automotive steel componentshas provided high ductility.
a major driving force for development and application
of hot-rolled high-strength sheet steels with higher
2. Experimental Procedure
formability. In order to meet this demand, application
of multi-phase steels containing retained austenite have The experiment has been undertaken to examine the
been proposed.3,4) It is known that transformation of effects of silicon and manganesecontent on mechanical
the retained austenite during plastic straining brings properties in 0.20/0 carbon steels, in ordr to achieve a
about an increase in work-hardening rate and the good combination of strength and ductility by meansof
resultant higher ductility. Steels having transformation- retained austenite without the use of expensive alloying
induced plasticity (TRIP) due to retained austenite have elements. The chemical compositions of steels used in
beenfound by Zackay. s) Retained austenite has also been thisexperiment are shownin Table 1. A series of 0.2010
found in dual-phase steels, as first reported by Hayami carbon steels with silicon content of 1.0-2.00/0 and
et al.6) A significant amount of austenite is retained in manganesecontent of 1.0-2.0 o/o Werevacuum-meltedin
steels containing about 2o/o Si when cooled to the laboratory.
room
ternperature through the bainite transformation re- The following heat treatment was performed in the
gion.7~ Io) This heat treatment pattern is thought to be laboratory in order to simulate the thermal history of
achievable in the hot-rolling process, followed by rapid the hot-rolling process, as shownin Fig. 1. Steels were
cooling and isothermal holding in the coiling process. hot-rolled from 30
mm
to thickness of
a after 3mm,

C 1991 ISIJ 992

 ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991), No. 9
Table l. Chemical composltions of steels used. (wto/o)

l5.7 16.9 16.3

Steel C Si Mn P S Al 2.0
(7.2) - - -

(13.6 ) ~
(14.6)

Sl 0.20 l.91 0.98 0.0 1O 0.0046 0,055

Ml 0.20 0.99 l .49 OOll 0.0053 0.055

o\Q
15 1.8 15.2 20.2
M2 0.19 1.50 l .48 O.OIO 0.0062 0.052 -.
(6.9 ) -'(
17.5 ) ~- *-
(19.5 )
M3
M4
0.20
0.20
l .99
2.49
l .48
l .49
0.009
0.005
0.0067
0.0015
0.050
0,043
~ ~\L,
0.004 l 400~CFC*~.
SMl 0.20 l .OO l .98 O009 o.054
1.o
1.5

SM2 0.20 l 52 2.00 0.010 0.0042 0.052 TR ( )

y. - -
4ob'C )/( 7.3
)
.
( AC
SM3 0.20 2.0 l 2.0 l 0.01 1 0.0063 0.057
1 1.5 2
Si
( )
'/.

f Fig. 2. Change in volume fraction of retained austenite as

~~ functions of silicon and manganesecontent in steels at
,
/1000~C 1/2 h\
x
/ 30 - 15 - 8-5 - 3(Grinding to 2t ) an isothermal holding temperature of 400'C for
! simulating coiling
f Tf : 780 - 800~C process.

TQ: 740~)

/
f 50 - 60~) / s
x 5s
400~Cx
1.001QSi 1.5010Si 2.0010Si
1!2 h
/
/
(350~C)
,
,
/ AC
FC f:
E
~~oo
Fig. l. Expenmental procedure lo
F,
holding at I OOO'Cfor 30min. The finish-rolling tem-
perature was about 780-800'C. The hot-rolled sheets
were air-cooled to 740'C, rapidly cooled at a cooling rate
of 50-60'C/sec for 5sec, and held at 400'C for 30min,
followed by furnace cooling or air-cooling, simulating
the thermal history of the coiling process.
The hot-rolled steels were tensile-tested without C:

skin-pass rolling. For the tensile test, JIS-5 type tensile E

~~o~ *~+

specimens (25 wide and 50

mm
gauge length) were mm O
,~i

prepared parallel to the rolling direction. Amountsof

retained austenite were calculated from the following
equation. 11)
To : 740'C
Vy = I/[K(Poe/ Pv) + I J Tc : 400'C
where, Poc and Py denote the integrated intensities of Fig. 3. Changein microstructures as functions of silicon and
ferrite and austenite, respectively. 200 or 220 diffraction manganesecontent in steels at an isothermal holding
for austenite and 200 or 21 1diffraction for ferrite were temperature of 400'C.
measured by Mo-Kc( radiation and 1'DS-O.3rnmRS-
1'SS slit system on the rolling plane of the sample after
grinding to the half thickness. 2000c/200y, K are 2. 19 for
1.52.0 o/o Silicon addition over .O olo
manganesesteels. I
results in
a increase in the vol,ume fraction
significant
l.35 for 200c(1220y, 1.12 for 2110c/200y and 0.7 for
of retained austenite. The volume fraction of retained
21 Ioc/220y in the case of MoKoe radiation.i 1)
austenite is also affected by the manganese content, even
3. Results at high silicon content of 2.0 o/o. Iarge increase in the A
volume fraction of retained austenite is observed when
3.1. Microstructure the manganesecontent is increased from 1.0 to 1.50/0.
Figure 2 shows the change in volume fraction of In high silicon and manganese content steels, the volume
retained austenite as functions of silicon and manganese fraction of retained austenite maintains a high value
content in steels processed at an isothermal holding even in the furnace-cooled sheets. The maximurn vol-
temperature of 400'C for simulating the coiling process. umefraction of retained austenite is obtained in steels
In low silicon and manganesecontent steels, Iower having I .5 o/o
manganeseand 2.0 o/o silicon.
volume fractions of retained austenite are formed in the Figure 3 shows the change in microstructures as
furnace-cooled samples than those in the air-cooled ones, functions of silicon and manganesecontent in steels
the latter bring about 7o/o. The addition of silicon processed at an isothermal holding temperature of 400'C.
increases the volume fraction of retained austenite in No low-temperature-transformation-product such as

993 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ International. Vol. 31 (1991 ), No. 9

~~'
J~
'
'~'e;~~~
J
~f '

' '
J' T*
IJA~:j::1,~~, .11
~_~~~J::1i~ '
Fig. 4.
1"
~:' _
P'
'~P Typical transmission electron micrographs of
l.Oo/oSil.5010Mn steel and 1.50/0Si-1.50/0Mn steel.
0.5pm

at a rate of over lO'C/sec, the austenite directly trnsforms

(a) 2 Oy.SI 15y.Mn
Fig. 5. Typical transmission electron micrographs of2.0'/.Si
l.5"/.Mn steel and 2.0*/.Si2.0*/.Mn steel.
balnite or martensite is observed under not only
but also TEM
in a 2.00/0Si-1.00/0Mn steel. The micro-
constituents of a 1.00/0Si-1.5010Mn steel are ferrite,
bainite and pearlite. The pearlite is of a degenerate type.
The increase in silicon from l.O to 1.50/0 results in the
change in the microstructure from bainite pearlite to
bainltic ferrite+retained austenite as shown in Fig. 4.
Matensite increases with increasing manganesecontent
as shown in Fig. 5, while there is little change in the
volume fraction of retained austenite.
Figure 6
shows the change in CCTdiagrams as
functions of silicon and manganesecontent. The trans-
formation to pearlite from austenite is delayed by in-
creasing silicon content. There is not a distinct differ-
ence in the other transformation behavior except pearl-
ite between I .O and 2.00/0 silicon
mencementof pearlite transformation in high silicon
steel
was considered to have arisen from the increase in
carbon activity of ferrite and the inhibition of carbide
precipltation due to silicon.
content from I .5 to 2.0 o/o Shifts the y-~c( transformation
region to the right side and decreases the cooling rate
necessary to produce the same amount of ferrite.
Therefore, if a 2.0 o/o manganesesteel was rapidly cooled
to bainite or martensite without ferrlte formation during
the continuous cooling.
Figure 7 shows the effect of finishing temperature of
deformation on the volume fraction of retained austenite
in steels deformed by
a high-speed sequential hot
deformation simulator. The size of the specimens is
12c x 18h (mm). After reheating by induction, the
specimen was deformed to 2.5mmheight, cooled at a
rate of 5'C/sec for 0-1 5sec, then rapidly cooled at a rate
of 50'C/sec to 400'C, and held at 400'C for 30min,
followed by slow-cooling at 0,1'C/sec. The volume
fraction of retained austenite increases with lowering
(b) 2.0oloSi - 2.00/.Mn the finishing temperature. The volume fraction of re-
tained austenite is slightly affected by the amount of
slow-cooling time after hot-deformation which depends
on the starting temperature of rapid-coolig in the present
SEM experiment. The finishing temperature which gives rise
to high volume fractions of retained austenite is nearly
coincident with the Ar3 temperature.
Figure 8 shows the effect of the isothermal holding
temperature simulating the coiling process on the vol-
+ umefraction of retained austenite in steels deformed by a
high speed sequential hot deformation simulator. The
isothermal holding at 400'C is effective in introducing
retained austenite. The volume fraction of retained
austenite at an isothermal holding temperature of 350'C
is almost the
same as that of 400'C. The elevation in
isothermal holding temprature from 400 to 450'C sharply
decreases the volume fraction of retained austenite.
The transformation from austenite to bainitic ferrite
Is assumedto be highly promoted at temperatures of
steel. The later com- 350 to 400'C. The bainitic ferrite is thought to result in
the inhibitlon of carbide precipitation due to silicon, as
discussed later. The prevention of carbide formation
correspondingly leads to a high concentration of carbon
The increase in manganese in residual austenite. Consequently, a large amount of
retained austenite wasobtained at the isothermal holding
temperatures of 350 to 400'C. The abrupt decrease in
volume fraction of retained austenite by the elevating
isothermal holding temperature may be due to the

C 1991 ISIJ 994

 ISIJ 1nternational, Vol. 31 (1991). No. 9

0.21X,C-1.09eSI 15'X)Mn 0.2~,C- 2.09~Si - I .59eMn

1OOO 1ooo

800 800
F F
/
P P
600 ,
Si ~ 600
vo d B
~
~ 400
B => E
~ 400 M
I

200
R~~) ~ 200
~R ~~)

~~
~~8 ~4~ ~)~)~
38 .60 2i
R ~e~ 66 3 11
O 9~ ~~

1 10 IOO 1ooo 1ooOo 10 1oo 1OOO I OOOO

Tille (s) Trne (s)

n
V Mn
0.296C- 2.O%Si- 2.0~,Mn
1ooo

800
F
o 600 P
~ B
~ 400
M
200
Fig. 6. Changein CCTdiagrams
manganesecontent.
as functions of silicon and ~"") ~") ~)
R C='~ C.'~
R
10 1OO 1OOO 10000
Ttne (s)

1000*c x 112t, IOOO'Cx 1!2,,

D.F.T 51;/I
80Qle
74O'C
50'Clt eso,C
5O'Clt
400'C x 112h T, 35OJ,5O,CX 112b
0.1 ICls 5,C!I

15
zo
,
_le •--e .\.
~e_
IQ
,
ll l'
'If-
, \-
~ 15 ~
/ , ,

~ 10
e
\ , e
5 ,
,
,\

\~-~
e e
1,59eSl
350
- 1.5%Mn .,
400 450
2.09eSI
350
- 1.59,,Mn
4QO 450
5 T2 ('c) Ta ('c)

2.0~SI - 1.5~M,] Fig. 8. Effect of isothermal holding temperature simulating

740 760 780 80Q 8ao 840 86Q coiling process on volumefraction of retained austenite
Detofm,tton Fini•hlng Temp. IC) ( in steels deformed by high speed sequential hot de-

Fig. 7. Effect of finishing temperature of deformation on formation simulator,

volume fraction of retained austenite in steels deformed
by high speed sequential hot deformation simulator,
content on tensile properties in steels processed at an
isothermal holding temperature of 400'C to simulate the
reduction in carbon concentration in residual austenite
coiling process. The addition of silicon increases tensile
because of the retardation of bainitic ferrite transforma-
strength (TS) by the 12kgf/mm2per I o/., and also in-
tion. The residual austenite is thought to be transformed
into twin-martensite during subsequent cooling, as the creases total elongation (E1) in a I .5 "/, manganesesteel.
carbon concentration in the residual austenite is not The increase in tensile strength maybe mainly due to
solid-solution hardening. The change in total elongation
enough to retain austenite at room temperature. is proportional to that in the volume fraction of retained
3.2. Effects of Silicon and ManganeseContent on Ten- austenite. Therefore, the resultant product of tensile
sile Properties strength and total elongation (TS x El) increases with
tensile
Figure 9 shows the effects of silicon and manganese silicon content. In a '2.00/0 manganesesteel,

995 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991), NO. 9

I(I , eooo
2eoo
2eoo
TSXB
lll j(' eooo
2800

o//le
TSXEI 2eOO
G~
2400 El 2400
2200 a,
I (O 90 'oQmh
lOO 2000
h c~~FP8
I - 2000
1000 ao
I g 7- --lp Ts 18CO
90
-
1600
~
I~, 70 ,
80 I , ~
~
IS'
70 ,
Ts co
hCO 8::~~_
,o
-*e~~~
YS
~
:\• 50 1'5lwl
ce
H*
co 60 YS H'- 4coioFc
> 40 ~)- 400CAC
50

40 -•-
-1-
FC
1.59eMrl
2.09~Mn
af

oeo 81:)~8 -
El

.
~ 20 ;;~/0
~R
/~/'
ol eT
30 /
R
I .
~~ 10
20 El

1.0 i.5 2.0 1.0 Is 2,0

si (9e) si (9e)

Fig. 9. Effects of silicon and manganesecontent on tensile Fig. ll. Effect of cooling conditions after isothermal holding
properties in steels at an isothermal holding tempera- at400'C on relationship between tensile properties
ture of 400"C for simulating coiling process. and silicon content

0.2~,C-1.59~,S~1.59eMn
•'~,~\~:\:~:"~'r~~:~•"\_~~~
24'~//27J/~~~a9
:;:
2.o 2.0
~eo \ \
*~,
,,\\,".,.. ~
~ 7O TS
~
~:
I .5
\\\~
1.o TS(kgflmm2) /75.3
,==
~
1.5

1.o
24 7 F~:~2'9

total
'

~\~
El%1~~(e/Q
35'1
ItL~L'J"
1'~/29'1
)
'
~
eo
)~
,
TSxE'
/i~I
ll '
eooo
2800

2400
El
2600 ~~o
x

400~CFC 4OO~C FC 50 400t) FC 2200

-'-
-1- e50eFC
2,0
6Y ~,
~: 2.o
"'ee
,\,,,
~'='=

!r("r~~~~:"'
~:~:eo
~e

~leo
40

l
El

F~~:/l~ll
~ I .5 60'4 56'7 ~ 1.5 \~~~~~~~ ~20
: ~ I=~-Ib=1
YS(k9f~\Imm2 ='~~; ~ 10 YR
1.o ) 60'9 1.o
~~ * =' ,***

700 720 740 7eo

1 1.5 2 1 1.5 2 T. (*c)
Si (%) si ('/.)
Fig. 12. Effect of isothermal holding temperature on tensile
Fig. 10. Changes in tensile strength, yield strength, total
properties of steel M2.
elongation and TSx El value as functions of silicon
and manganesecontent.
increases, while the yield strength decreases with in-
creasing silicon and manganesecontent. Total elon-
strength increases by the 25kgf/mm2 with increasing gation and TSx E1 value sharply increase with in-
silicon content from I .O to 2.00/0. Total elongation creasing the silicon content from .O to .50/0 and the I I
remains almost constant for the silicon content of I .O manganesecontent from I .O to I .50/0. The optimum
to I .50/0. However, the increment of silicon from I .5 combination of tensile strength and ductility is obtained
to 2.00/0 deteriorate the total elongation. Therefore, in steels having I .5 o/o
manganeseand 2.0 o/o silicon. These
the TSx E1 value in a 2.00/0 manganesesteel increases changes total elongation and value TSx E1 value have
in
with an increase in silicon addition from l.O to I .50/0 the sametendency as that of retained austenite.
and slightly deteriorates for further increase in silicon Figure ll shows the effect of cooling conditions after
content. isothermal holding at 400'C on the relationship between
Yield strength (YS) decreases with increasing silicon tensile properties and silicon content. In low silicon steel,
content, while tensile strength increases. The decrement the total elongation and the consequential TSx El value
of yield strength in a 2.0 o/o manganesesteel is larger than of the furnace-cooled sample are inferior to those of
I
that in a .5 o/o manganesesteel. This
mayarise from the air-cooled sample, since austenite excessively transforms
presence of mobile dislocation and residual stress to bainite or martensite during slow cooling and the
introduced during the austenite-to-martensite transfor- retained austenite consequently decreases. Onthe other
mation. hand, there are no apparent differences in total elongation
Figure 10 shows the changes in tensile strength, yield and the TSx El value between furnace-cooled and
strength, total elongation and TSx E1 value as functions air-cooled 2.0 o/o Silicon steel. This meansthat high silicon
of silicon and manganesecontent. The tensile strength addition is beneficial to obtain a formable high strength

C 1991 ISIJ 996

 Sl i.O 1.5 2.O S[ 1.01.52.0
3200
Mn
1.o% A l'59e OO'
300o
1'5% OOe ee
CIl]~7aap"eaap 2,09e D r' I
UJ
2coo
2000
X 2400
2'o% D DI I
A
__'-1r" ~~
\~, ee
.\ F~ D DD
O'~
A [1;~'/ '
'l' Og
,,) )dl ~iQ~~lh'e
h 2200 A A ~oei' $
I ~~njlO

2000 lOl l~~~

1800 'O~
'D
_'-r'lll0-0
a LL____Dl'~'~'~
O~v~v
'_1- '- - !I\~\~L
1eoo
140Q

1o 15 20

TR (%) Ts (kgf / mm2)

Fig. 13. Relationship between volume fraction of retained Fig, 15. Relationshipbetweenholeexpandinglimit and tensile
austenite and TSx El value. strength.

3.3. Effects of Silicon and ManganeseContent on the

ILI
Hole Expanding Limit
_
2.0 11"'59i8 4012 32tl
ea~e\~~52
Steel of transformation-induced plasticity maynot be
~12 suitable for commercial application which demands

\ T
O 4914
~
:E
I .5 - i

stretch fiangeability due to a lack of local elongation,

even though the steel showslarge uniform elongation. I
l)
\\5413
I Thus, the following experiment was undertaken to
1.o 1 (%)
I
'
- I

1 [
examine the hole expanding limit as a characteristic
parameter of stretch fiangeability.
2,0 7,9 7,3 5.8 Figure 14 shows the effects of silicon and manganese
1S.3 19,8 17.1
content on the hole expanding limit. The increase in
~~
silicon content brings about a decrease in the hole
I .5 8.8
expanding limit. The hole expanding limit deteriorates
~E 15.9
further in a 2.0~/, manganesesteel than in a 1.5010
silicon content. The hole
l~i:J~n~~i~L(~~
manganesesteel by increasing
1,o unlf E expanding plotted against tensile strength in
limit is

Fig. 15. The decrease in hole expanding limit is closely

1.5
sl (%) related to the increase in tensile strength. This means
expanding and uniform that the hole expanding limit is not dependent on the
Fig. 14. Changes in hole limit
elongation and local elongation element as functions volume fraction of retained austenite in the steels used
of silicon and manganesecontent. in the present experiment. This maybe due to little change
in local elongation element (= total
elongation), except in a 2.0'/oSi-2.0010Mn steel, in spite
elongation
- uniform

steel in the hot rolling process accompanied by the of increasing uniform elongation with the additions of
slow-cooling thermal history after coiling. This maybe silicon and manganese.
due to preventing the decomposition of austenite during
furnace cooling. 4. Discussion
Figure 12 shows the effect of isothermal hodling
temperature on the tensile properties of steel M2
4.1. Effects of Silicon and Manganese
(1 .5Si-1 .5Mn).
A
Iow coiling temperature brings about Silicon addition results in a significant increase in the
an increase in tensile strength and a slight deterioration TSx El value in the hot rolling process, followed by an
in total elongation. Therefore, there is no apparent isothermal holding at 400'C for 30min and furnace
difference in the TSx El value between the coiling cooling, simulating the thermal history of coiling.
It has been reported3,6 ~ 9,12) that a significant amount
temperatures of 350 and 400'C.
Figure 13 shows the realtionship between the volume of austenite is retained in sheets containing a mediumto
fraction of retained austenite and the TSx E1 value. The high carbon content over 0.20/0 by cooling to room
increase in the TSx El value is closely related to the temperature through an isothermal holding at bainite
increase in volume fraction of retained austenite, which transformation temperature. However, there has been
the increase in silicon little investigation involving 0.2"/, carbon steel used in
may be mainly attributed to
this study, which is able to be applied to spot welding.1 3)
content. are divided into three groups, de-
The data
pending on the manganesecontent of these steels. A The stabilization of austenite at room temprature in
higher value of TSx El is obtained in a .5 o/o manganese I the low alloy steels must be accomplished by carbon en-
steel thana 2.00/0 manganesesteel, when compared
in richment during isothermal holding stage. The presence
at the volume fraction of retained austenite. It is of silicon is indispensable for the stabilization of aus-
same
reasonable to assumethat the decrease in ductility as a tenite. Silicon is knownto inhibit cementite formation
function of manganesecontent has arisen from micro- during the tempering reaction in steels.14) This is
structural changes. generally explained by the relative insolubility of silicon
in cementite requiring the diffusion controlled ejection

997 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991), No. 9
of sllicon at the transformation front which in turn re-
0'8 t xJIS13B
sults in silicon concentration build-up during an early 1Io
a '\\~\ / '\D
stage of growth. Thls locally increases the activity of E D// ,., ~~
E 1oo \:\D TS
carbon so that the carbon fiux is reduced and further
90 \a ,~__1).l
o'//
development of the cementite embryos is inhibited.14) (,)

H ,,
In this study, it wasobserved that the increase in silicon 80
I I
from .O to .5 o/o results in the change of second phase 4000
from bainite+pearlite to bainitic ferrite+retained
/'
/ e\. TSX El
' h\
3500 -
austenite, as shownin Fig. 4. By the presence of si]icon, '~~"~~-'
this bainitic considered not to form carbide
ferrite is
UJ
3000 /'
/ !]*/ a~ D O _/ C:~f\D
~ /
(O
The prevention of carbide formation cor- H
precipitates.
respondingly leads to a high concentration of carbon
2soo D/ D

in austenite. The bainite transformation is a diffusionless 2000

lo
45 0'2~.C- (2.596Si )- 15o/aMn
transformation in which the growth of a sheaf occurs by
40
/ \ \ '\.-r\
l/
El
the martensitic propagation of subunits, and redistrl-
~~ 35
bution of carbon from these subunits to the residual o o D e_;9-~ .~~~,
'
/'
austenite mainly occurs after the actual transformation
~~ 30
25
/:
/Q
/o !:
o~
\)
has taken place. Consequently, austenite is retained due
20 // D 020/oC-(2.0%Si)-2.096Mn

to a lowered Mspoint by the enrichment of carbon even

50 Ioa 150 200 250 300 350
after cooling to the
room temperature. T**P (e)
The volume fraction of retained austenite was also Fig. 16. Effect or tensile testing temperature on tensne
affected by the manganesecontent, even whenthe silicon properties of steels M4and sM3.
content is 2.00/0, and was remarkably increased with
increasing the manganese content from I .O to I .5 o/o. This tensile properties, whose tendency could be interpreted

means that the addition of manganeseover I .Oo/o is
necessary to obtain a large amountof retained austenite
in 0.20/0C2.00/0Si steels. In
a I .O o/o manganesesteel, the
microstructure mainly consists of ferrite and a small
amount of retained austenite, martensite and bainite.
The decrease in manganesecontent is assumedto bring
about instability of austenite and consequently accel-
eration of ferrite transformation during the hot rolling
and cooling process.
4.2. Relationship between Retained Austenite and TRIP
The effect of retained austenite on ductility enhance-
ment was discussed for dual-phase steels.5,15) However,
the contribution of retained austenite has not been fully
understood becauseit is doubtful that the relatively small
amount of retained austenite and the completion of its
transformation into martensite in the early stage of
deformation could contribute to such improved ductility.
In the steels having a large amountof retained austenite,
such as the steels used in the present study, the con-
tributions can be studied more clearly because of the
considerable increase in ductility.
The increase in the TSx El value was closely related
to the increase in the volume fraction of retained
austenite, as shown in Fig, 13. This may be mainly
attributed to the increase in the silicon content. It is
reasonable to assumethat the effect of silicon mayarise
through the concept of the effect of retained austenite
as explained above. This experiment has been under-
taken using steel M4(2.5Sil.5Mn) and SM3(2.0Si-
2.0Mn) cold-rolled and continuously annealed in order
to provlde a lot of equally conditioned test-pieces. In
addition, to provide almost the same tensile strength
at room temperature and the samevolume fraction of
retained austenite, these steels were heat-treated under
the following hot-rolling and continuous annealing
conditions, where the coiling temperatures were 400 and
520'C, respectively. Both steels were heated at 800'C for
2min, air-cooled at a rate of 12'C/sec to 650'C, quenched
at about 100'C/sec to 400'C, held for 3min and cooled
to room temperature.
The tensile strengths of I .5 and 2.0 o/o
manganesesteels
both decrease with elevating the testing temperature up
to about 200'C. Further elevation in testing temperature
brings about an increase in tensile strength, and then
reaches a peak at a temperature of about 300'C. The
increase in tensile strength due to elevating the testing
temperature can be attributed to the dynamic strain
aging effect and the change in martensite morphology
transformed from retained austenite due to the difference
in deformation temperature. There is
no apparent
difference in the change in tensile strength as a function
of testing temperature in the steels with manganese
I
content between .5 and 2.0 o/o Thepeak total elongation .

from the increase in the amount of stable retained is observed at

a testing temperature of 150'C in a .5 olo I
austenite. Onthe other hand, the data are divided into manganesesteel. The transformation-induced plasticity
three groups, depending on the manganesecontent of due to retained austenite has been reported to be
these steels, as shown in Fig, 13 which illustrates the distinguished below Mdtemperature. 16) Accordingly, the
relationship between the volume fraction of retained Mdpoint of the residual austenite phase in steel
M2is
austenite and the TSx El value in detail. A
higher value presumedto be about 250'C due to the enrichment of
I
of TSx El is obtained in a .50/0 manganesesteel than carbon to austenite from ferrite, although the Mdpoint
in a 2.0 o/o manganese steel, whencornpared at the
same estimated from the chemical composition of this steel
volume fraction of retained austenite. is lower.
On the contrary, the improvement of total
Figure 16 shows the effect of testing temperature on elongation with elevating testing temperature is not so

@1991 ISIJ 998

 ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991 ), No. 9
austenite was detected by X-ray diffraction analysis.
\L
.~ \ The lattice parameter of retained austenite in a 2.0010
1000 \' o -e-di~- Steel M4
SM3
0.4
\'\o\\ -o-A- Steel
manganesesteel is observed to be smaller by about
QJ
~
800 A tf A AJL A LJb
~A \o
~~:~
n_valUe
:~ 0.3
0.005 A
In comparison with that in
steel. This
a 1.50/0 manganese
4L
~Q~L A JLAJL
LAAAJLJL meansthat the carbon content in austenite is
~ 600 ~~ ,~(.LJ~L

LO\
AJ~,~ L JLJL A
AAAJLAAA
1,
:,
reduced by about 0.lo/o. However, the compressive
ee Ad~
l~A,~~
0.2 ::'

strains due the presence of martensite must be

to
400 og. ~ ,~A'~~A~AA ,:

og::e..
ooo~~eee.e
158
I\\~
~ 10 TR
~~ oe
~\ \e
.~~,
\.
h
cc
5 o e-~_. -~-~-
a .
o
2 4 6 8
True strain
Fig. 17. Changesin volume fraction of retained austenite and
work-hardening rate of steeis M4and SM3.
remarkable in a 2.0 o/o manganesesteel. The temperature
of peak total elongatlon in a 2.0 o/o manganesesteel looks
to slightly elevate in comparison with a I .5 o/o manganese
steel. However, it is not plausible to estimate that the
Mdtemperature of a 2.00/0 manganesesteel is higher
than that of a I .50/0 manganesesteel. Accordingly,
transformation-induced plasticity at a temperature of
l 50'C in a 2.00/0 manganese steel is considered to be
inhibited by microstructure causes.
The microstructure changes due to increasing the
manganesecontent is mainly the increase in volume
fraction of martensite, as shownin Fig. 5. The increase
in volume fraction of martensite and the consequential
decrease in volume fraction of ferrite deteriorates the
TSx E1 value in spite of a given volume fraction of
retained austenite.
The microstructure changes due to Increasing man-
ganese content are also expected to result in the dif-
ferences in strain-induced transformatlon behavior and
work-hardening rate. Figure 17 shows the change in
volume fraction of retained austenite and work-hard-
ening rate. The samples used in this experiment were
prepared with the samemethod as that concerning the
effect of testing temperature
on tensile properties as
shownin Fig. 16. The TSx El value is 681 for steel M4
and 2160 for steel SM3. Steel M4showsa large n-value
even at a high strain over 1 o/o. The volume fraction of
retained austenite decreases gradually with deformation
1
from initial value of 4.6 to 2o/o after straining to uniform
elongation. The decrease is caused by strain-induced
transformation, and the accompanying large work-
hardening results in improved elongation. On the other
hand, the decrease in volume fraction of retained
austenite of steel SM3is more rapid than that of steel
M4, especially in the early stage of straining, and the
rapid transformation from retained austenite to mar-
tensite probably deteriorates the total elongation.
This difference due to increasing manganesecontent
may be attributed to the difference in the stability of
retained austenite with respect to strain-induced trans-
formation as a result of the different carbon content and
second-phase distribution. First, the carbon content in
~l'r]
~
considered to have an effect on austenite lattice pa-
o.1 rameter.17) Accordingly, it
d(1 \) ooooa~":"•ee' can not be assumed that
ovoo
-ds the decrease in carbon content in austenite is the only
o reason whythe strength-ductility balance is poor, In spite
of the presence as muchas 14 retained austenite before
o/o
-~~ deformation.
- o--
~= o- Second, the martensite volume fraction increases with
Io 12 14 16 18
( xlo-' ) manganesecontent, as mentioned above. Accordingly,
the distribution of martensite phases must also influence
the transformation behavior from retained austenite to
martensite during tensile straining, and consequently
influence ductility. The presence of the martensite phase
is thought to diminish the
TRIP effect. In steel SM3,
retained austenite exists not only as aggregate with
martensite, but also near martensite particles because of
increasing volume fraction. Most of the retained austen-
ite
mayeasily transform to martensite in the early stage
of straining because the external stress directly propa-
gates to retained austenite through the hard martensite
phase. On the other hand, in steel M4, strain-induced
transformation occurs gradually, Ieading to a better
exhibition of the TRIPeffect. Additionally, ferrite has
a
superior ductility because it is softer than martensite. It
can be concluded that the presence of martensite is one
of the reasons whystrength-ductility balance is not good,
although as muchas 14 o/o retained austenite exists before
deformation.
In addition, the difference in slip deformation caused
by the changes in silicon and manganesecontent may
influence the transformation behavior of retained aus-
tenite to martensite. The increase in silicon content of
ferrite phase promotes planar slipl8) and brings about
a random array of dislocation. This deformation be-
havior in sheets having high silicon content such as
steel M4is thought to result in
a gradual strain-induced
transformation. On the contrary, the increase in man-
2 ganese content promotes cross-slip deformationl9) and
the cell structure formation of dislocation in the ferrite
8 phase immediately surrounding the retained austenite
particles. Therefore, retained austenite may be locally
stressed and rapidly transforms to martensite in sheets
having high manganesecontent such as steel SM3.
5. Conclusion
For the purpose of achieving a high strength sheet steel
with a large elongation, by utilizing transformation-
induced plasticity of retained austenite, the effects of
chemical composition and hot rolling conditions on the
mechanicai properties of 0.2"/. carbon steels were
studied. The key findings are summarizedas follows:
(1) Silicon addition over 1.0"/* results in a significant
increase in the volume fraction of retained austenite due
to the change in second phase from bainite + pearlite to

999 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 31 (1991 ), No. 9
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Professor Emeritus of The University of Tokyo. Adviser
of KobeSteel, Ltd., for useful discussions.

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