Tensile mechanical properties of 1.6Si-1.58Mn-0.195C TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) steels under high strain rate and effects of DP (dual-phase) treatments were studied and compared to the quasi-static tensile behavior. The results show that the increasing of strain rate leads to increasing in their strengths and decreasing in the uniform elongation remarkably. Because the stable retained austenite in TRIP steel can transform to martensite during tensile testing and the material exhibits excellent characteristic of transformation induced plasticity, the plastic deformation behavior is evidently improved and the combination of strength and elongation is superior to that of dual-phase steel, although its strength is smaller than that of DP steel. However, DP treated steel shown lower elongation under dynamic tension in spite of higher strength. A model was proposed to explain the excellent elongation rate of TRIP steel compared with DP steel on the basis of SEM analysis and the strength of the components in microstructure.
X.C. Wei, L. Li, R.Y. Fu and W. ShiSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China Manuscript received 18 June 2001
Research status of high strength low alloy TRIP (transformation induced plasticity) steels for automobile structural parts is briefly described. Composition and microstruc-ture factors especially the morphology, size and volume fraction of retained austenite, which largely influence the strength and ductility of the steel, are reviewed and discussed one after another. Modelling of the inter-critical annealing and martempering processes as well as the designing of the TRIP steel aided by commercial software are introduced. Some special aspects of the dynamic mechanical properties of TRIP steel are firstly reported.
With the sublattice model, equilibrium compositions of ferrite (a) and austenite (7 ) phases, as well as the volume percent of austenite (7) at 780℃ in different TRIP steels were calculated. Concentration profiles of carbon, Mn, Al and Si in the steels were also estimated under the lattice fixed frame of reference so as to understand the complex mechanical behavior of TRIP steels after different isothermal bainitic transformation treatments. The effect of Si and Mn on transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) was discussed according to thermodynamic and kinetic analyses. It is recognized that Al also induces phase transformation in the steels but its TRIP effect is not as strong as that of Si.
