Abstract
The effects of Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P) and Annealed Martensite (AM) heat treatment on the microstructure and tensile properties were investigated for 0.24C-0.5Si-1.5Mn-1Al steels. The Q&P steels were annealed at a single phase ($\gamma$) or a dual phase (${\gamma}+{\alpha}$), followed by quenching to a temperature between $M_s$ and $M_f$. Then, enriching carbon was conducted to stabilize the austenite through the partitioning, followed by water quenching. The AM steels were intercritically annealed at a dual phase (${\gamma}+{\alpha}$) temperature and austempered at $M_s$ and $M_s{\pm}50^{\circ}C$, followed by cooling in oil quenching. The dual phase Q&P steels showed lower tensile strength and yieldyield strength than those of the single phase Q&P steels, and tThe elongation for the dual phase Q&P steel was partitioning 100s higher than that of that for the single phase Q&P steels as the partitioning time was less than 100s up to partitioning 100s. For AM steels, the tensile/yield strength decreased and the total elongation increased as the austempering temperature increased. The stability of the retained austenite controlled the elongation for Q&P steels and the volume fraction of the retained austenite controlled the elongation for AM steels.
