Tailoring bainitic transformation and mechanical properties in high-strength steel via Mn-induced chemical heterogeneity

IF 2.7 4区材料科学 Q3 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Materials Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-27 DOI:10.1016/j.matlet.2025.139583

Huifang Lan, Siyu Liu, Pengli Xu, Shuai Tang, Linxiu Du

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Abstract

A composition-independent strategy was developed to modulate bainitic transformation and optimize mechanical properties in high-strength steel via engineered Mn chemical heterogeneity. Mn-depleted and Mn-enriched regions were introduced in fine-grained austenite through intercritical annealing and retained by rapid austenitization. This spatial heterogeneity accelerated initial bainite formation in Mn-depleted zones, while Mn-enriched regions stabilized austenite through Mn and C enrichment. The resulting microstructure exhibited refined bainitic laths, a higher volume fraction of film-like retained austenite, and suppressed formation of blocky martensite/austenite constituents along prior austenite grain boundaries. These features led to enhanced strength-ductility synergy through a sustained transformation-induced plasticity effect and delayed plastic instability. The results demonstrate that spatial control of chemical heterogeneity provides a practical and efficient route for tailoring transformation pathways and mechanical performance in bainitic steels without altering overall alloy composition.

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mn诱导的高强度钢贝氏体相变及力学性能研究

提出了一种不依赖于成分的策略，通过设计Mn的化学非均质性来调节高强度钢的贝氏体相变并优化其力学性能。贫锰和富锰区通过临界间退火在细晶奥氏体中引入，并通过快速奥氏体化保留。这种空间异质性加速了贫锰区初始贝氏体的形成，而富锰区通过Mn和C富集稳定了奥氏体。由此得到的微观组织表现为细化的贝氏体板条，较高体积分数的膜状残余奥氏体，以及沿先前奥氏体晶界抑制块状马氏体/奥氏体成分的形成。这些特征通过持续的转化诱导的塑性效应和延迟的塑性失稳，增强了强度-延性协同作用。结果表明，空间控制化学非均质性为在不改变整体合金成分的情况下调整贝氏体钢的相变路径和力学性能提供了一条实用有效的途径。

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来源期刊

Materials Letters 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

3.30%

发文量

1948

审稿时长

50 days

期刊介绍： Materials Letters has an open access mirror journal Materials Letters: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review. Materials Letters is dedicated to publishing novel, cutting edge reports of broad interest to the materials community. The journal provides a forum for materials scientists and engineers, physicists, and chemists to rapidly communicate on the most important topics in the field of materials. Contributions include, but are not limited to, a variety of topics such as: • Materials - Metals and alloys, amorphous solids, ceramics, composites, polymers, semiconductors • Applications - Structural, opto-electronic, magnetic, medical, MEMS, sensors, smart • Characterization - Analytical, microscopy, scanning probes, nanoscopic, optical, electrical, magnetic, acoustic, spectroscopic, diffraction • Novel Materials - Micro and nanostructures (nanowires, nanotubes, nanoparticles), nanocomposites, thin films, superlattices, quantum dots. • Processing - Crystal growth, thin film processing, sol-gel processing, mechanical processing, assembly, nanocrystalline processing. • Properties - Mechanical, magnetic, optical, electrical, ferroelectric, thermal, interfacial, transport, thermodynamic • Synthesis - Quenching, solid state, solidification, solution synthesis, vapor deposition, high pressure, explosive