Influence of Tempering Duration on Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Behavior of Strain-aged Medium-manganese Steel with 2300 MPa Yield Strength

doi:10.11901/1005.3093.2025.261

Chinese Journal of Materials Research

2026, Vol. 40

Issue (1): 31-38 DOI: 10.11901/1005.3093.2025.261

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Influence of Tempering Duration on Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Behavior of Strain-aged Medium-manganese Steel with 2300 MPa Yield Strength

LIU Xuanye¹, LIU Yi¹, WANG Jing², XIAO Daheng², JIA Yunhang¹, LI Chunyu², LI Yunjie¹(

), YUAN Guo¹, WANG Guodong¹

^1.National Key Laboratory of Digital Steel, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
^2.Hunan Steel Research Institute of Technology Co., Ltd., Changsha 410208, China

Cite this article:

LIU Xuanye, LIU Yi, WANG Jing, XIAO Daheng, JIA Yunhang, LI Chunyu, LI Yunjie, YUAN Guo, WANG Guodong. Influence of Tempering Duration on Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Behavior of Strain-aged Medium-manganese Steel with 2300 MPa Yield Strength. Chinese Journal of Materials Research, 2026, 40(1): 31-38.

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Abstract

A cost-effective strain-aging 2300 MPa grade medium-Mn steel (Fe-0.34C-7.4Mn-1Si-0.2V, mass fraction, %) was melted and cast. The steel was subjected to 4% pre-strain before hot rolling, then tempering at 200 ^oC for 20 min, 1 h, and 2 h respectively, after being hot-rolled. There after the evolution of volume fraction, grain size, dislocation density, and bake hardening (BH) effect of the austenite was systematically analyzed, in terms of the effect of pre-strain and annealing time on microstructure and properties of the steel. Key findings include: after pre-straining, the austenite volume fraction decreased from 31% to ~8%. Prolonged tempering coarsened austenite grains from 0.4 μm to 1 μm, while the yield strength increased from 2198 MPa to 2311 MPa, with uniform elongation stabilized at 9.1%-10.3%. A remarkable bake hardening effect was observed, with BH values rising from 460 MPa (20 min) to 573 MPa (2 h), primarily due to Cottrell atmosphere formation via carbon diffusion, which pinned dislocations. The enhanced yield strength was dominated by dislocation strengthening (pre-strain-induced) and bake hardening effect, synergistically ensuring stable performance across a wide tempering window (20 min-2 h). The low sensitivity to tempering time and broad process tolerance highlight this steel's suitability for large-scale industrial production.

Key words: metallic materials medium-Mn steel strain aging bake hardening high yield strength

Received: 22 August 2025

ZTFLH:

TG142.1

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52104371);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52574429);Xing-liao Talents Program(XLYC2403072);National College Students' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program(250273)

Corresponding Authors: LI Yunjie, Tel: 15140037408, E-mail: liyunjie@ral.neu.edu.cn

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	Articles by authors
	LIU Xuanye
	LIU Yi
	WANG Jing
	XIAO Daheng
	JIA Yunhang
	LI Chunyu
	LI Yunjie
	YUAN Guo
	WANG Guodong

URL:

https://www.cjmr.org/EN/10.11901/1005.3093.2025.261 OR https://www.cjmr.org/EN/Y2026/V40/I1/31

Fig.1 Schematic of processing route

Fig.2 SEM microstructure of sample of different tempering time (a) initial sample; (b) 20 min; (c) 1 h; (d) 2 h

Fig.3 Microstructure of sample of different tempering time (a) initial sample; (b) 20 min; (c) 1 h; (d) 2 h; (e) 1 h

Fig.4 Statistics of RA size of samples of different tempering time (a) initial sample; (b) 20 min; (c) 1 h; (d) 2 h

Fig.5 XRD patterns (a) and austenite volume fraction (b) of the initial samples and pre-strained samples at different tempering times

Fig.6 Engineering stress-engineering strain curves of samples at different times (a) initial sample; (b) pre-strained samples

Table 1 Mechanical properties of experimental steel at different tempering times

Fig.7 Work hardening rate curves of samples

Fig.8 BH values of pre-strained samples under different tempering times

Fig.9 Dislocation density of martensite in pre-strained samples under different tempering times

Sample	$σ d, i$ / MPa	$Δ σ d, i$	BH/ MPa	$Δ σ d, i$ + BH/ MPa	YS/ MPa	$Δ$ YS/ MPa
Initial	440	-	-	-	1025	-
20 min	1086	646	460	1106	2198	1173
1 h	979	539	563	1102	2301	1276
2 h	947	507	573	1080	2311	1286

Table 2 Contribution to yield strength

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