Reply to comments on Austenite stability of ultrafine-grained transformation-induced plasticity steel with Mn partitioning

As a response to the comment by Luo, we here discuss and reiterate the importance of a combination of two factors for the room-temperature austenite stability in ultrafine-grained medium-Mn transformation-induced plasticity steel. The partitioning of Mn and C into austenite during intercritical annealing and the ultrafine size of the austenite islands should be satisfied simultaneously. (C) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.