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Rapid Heating-Driven Variant Selection and Martensitic Refinement for Superior Strength-Ductility Synergy
Siming Huang1, Liejun Li1, Haixiao Ye1
1National Engineering Research Center of Near-Net Shape Forming Technology for Metallic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 13, 2025
Summary
Rapid heating significantly refines steel microstructure, enhancing ductility and strength-ductility synergy. This advanced thermal treatment optimizes martensitic transformation for superior mechanical properties.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Metallurgy
- Physical Chemistry
Background:
- Martensitic steels are crucial for high-performance applications.
- Controlling microstructure is key to optimizing steel properties.
- Rapid heating offers a novel approach to manipulate steel microstructures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of rapid heating (300 °C/s) on martensitic transformation.
- To analyze the impact on crystallographic variant selection and grain refinement.
- To evaluate the resulting mechanical performance, focusing on strength-ductility synergy.
Main Methods:
- Comparative study of rapid heating versus conventional heating.
- Microstructural analysis of prior austenite grain (PAG) and martensitic substructures.
- Mechanical testing including tensile strength and elongation measurements.
Main Results:
- Rapid heating refined PAG size (16.08 μm to 5.06 μm) and martensitic block size (4.24 μm to 2.41 μm).
- Increased density of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) and favored closely packed (CP) group variant selection.
- Achieved a 28.3% increase in the product of strength and elongation (PSE), enhancing ductility.
Conclusions:
- Rapid heating effectively refines martensitic substructures.
- This method provides control over martensitic variant evolution.
- Superior strength-ductility synergy is achievable in martensitic steels via rapid heating.
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