Effect of annealing conditions on the microstructure and tensile properties of 0.5 V containing Fe-16Mn-0.8C-0.5Si steel

Microstructure and tensile properties of Fe-16Mn-0.8C-0.5Si-0.5 V steel subjected to various annealing conditions have been investigated. Our results show that there is a precipitation of fine VC with a small amount of Fe3C during annealing and an increase in annealing time decreases strength due to coarsening of both carbides and grain sizes despite an increase in the volume fraction of VC. Utilization of slow air-cooling instead of water-quenching promotes an additional precipitation of fine VC and Fe3C, resulting in a large increase in strength that are much higher than those of water-quenched specimen as well as conventional high Mn steels. (C) 2019 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.