Effects of Heat Treatment Cooling Methods on Precipitated Phase and Tensile Properties of Fe-18Mn-10Al-1C-5Ni Lightweight Steel.

This research focuses on Fe-18Mn-10Al-1C-5Ni lightweight steel and deeply explores the influences of three different cooling methods, namely, water quenching (WQ), air cooling (AQ), and furnace cooling (FQ), on the precipitation behavior of the B2 phases and κ-carbides in the lightweight steel. The intrinsic relationship among the precipitated phases, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior is revealed. Compared with the WQ sample, the size of the intragranular B2 phase in the AQ sample did not change significantly (an increment of 9 nm), but nano-sized κ-carbides appeared at the grain boundaries and inside the grains.