Influence of Carbide Precipitation and Dissolution on the Microstructure of Ultra-Fine-Grained Intercritically Annealed Medium Manganese Steel

The influence of cementite precipitation and dissolution on the formation of the carbide-free, ultra-fine-grained, ferrite + austenite microstructure of medium manganese steel was analyzed. During heating to the intercritical temperature, cementite nucleates at low-angle lath martensite boundaries, austenite subsequently nucleates at ferrite/cementite boundaries, and the cementite is gradually replaced by the growing austenite grains. The intercritical austenite carbon is therefore due to cementite dissolution, rather than carbon partitioning between ferrite and austenite.