Thermal Stabilization of Austenite During Quenching and Partitioning of Austenite for Automotive Steels

Abstract

Published sources are reviewed devoted to use of heat treatment for high-strength automotive steels based on the phenomenon of carbon redistribution between martensite and untransformed austenite during quenching and partitioning. The possibility of implementing quenching and partitioning heat treatment providing presence of an increased amount of retained austenite in the microstructure is shown by experiment on the example of silicon-containing steels with good hardenability.