Austenite stabilization through manganese enrichment

A model is proposed to predict austenite stabilization through manganese partitioning between ferrite and austenite. The model predicts retained austenite fractions as a function of intercritical annealing temperature based on equilibrium phase fractions and solute contents. Thermodynamic data are used to calculate the M-s temperature of the enriched austenite in order to predict fresh martensite formation upon cooling to room temperature. An intercritical annealing temperature resulting in the greatest retained austenite fraction is predicted which correlates to some experimental observations. (C) 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.