Precipitation hardening of a FeMnC TWIP steel by vanadium carbides

Abstract

A fine precipitation of spherical vanadium carbides is obtained in a Fe22Mn0.6C base steel during the final recrystallisation heat treatment. Precipitates formed in recrystallised grains have a cube-cube orientation relation with the matrix, confirmed by Moiré patterns observed in TEM. The theoretical size for loss of coherency is below the nm, much lower than the precipitates' size. Deformation contrasts were observed around the precipitates and their residual coherency was measured. It was shown to decrease when the carbides' size increases, to vanish above 30 nm. The net increase of the yield stress was estimated to be 140 MPa. Precipitation hardening by vanadium carbides do not alter the strain hardening rate by TWIP effect, as they do not seem to act as obstacles for the propagation of microtwins.