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Local distribution of orientation relationship between austenite and martensite is quantitatively examined using lath martensite in an ultra-low-carbon steel. Orientation relationship is systematically deviated between near Greninger–Troiano and Nishiyama–Wasserman orientation relationships around variant boundaries of the smallest misorientation pair, which is observed as the most frequent variant pair in the steel. Misorientation between this variant pair is decreased at some boundaries of the pair. Formation mechanism of the pair is discussed using the observed boundary characters. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural refinement by cold rolling (10 to 80 pct reductions) of interstitial free (IF) steel containing Mn and B has been investigated from samples with different initial structures: (a) lath martensite, (b) coarse ferrite (grain size 150 μm), and (c) fine ferrite (22 μm). Unalloyed IF steel with a coarse grain size (120 μm) has also included based on a previous study. Deformation microstructures and structural parameters have been analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, and mechanical properties have been characterized by hardness and tensile testing. At low to medium strains, lath martensite transforms into a cell block structure composed of cell block boundaries and cell boundaries with only a negligible change in strength. At medium to large strains, cell block structures in all samples refine with increasing strain and the hardening rate is constant (stage IV). A strong effect of the initial structure is observed on both the structural refinement and the strength increase. This effect is largest in lath martensite and smallest in unalloyed ferrite. No saturation in structural refinement and strength is observed. The discussion covers the transformation of lath martensite into a cell block structure at low to medium strains where the driving force is suggested to be a decrease in the dislocation line energy. Medium to large strain-hardening mechanisms are discussed together with structure-strength relationships assuming additive stress contributions from dislocations, boundaries, and elements in solid solution. Good agreement is found between flow stress predictions and stress values observed experimentally both in the initial undeformed martensite and in deformed samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigated the substructures of lenticular martensites with different martensite start temperatures (Ms) by transmission electron microscopy. Observation of Fe–33Ni revealed a substructural change from fine transformation twins in the midrib and twinned region to several sets of screw dislocations in the untwinned region during growth. Tangled and curved dislocations also appeared near the martensite–austenite interface of the untwinned region, as the martensite inherited the dislocations in the surrounding austenite. In contrast, curved and tangled dislocations appeared in the entire untwinned region in Fe–31Ni and in the whole martensite plate in Fe–20.5Ni–35Co, as the higher Ms temperatures facilitated the plastic deformation of the surrounding austenite. Thermally transformed thin plate martensite in Fe–31Ni–10Co–3Ti grew into a lenticular shape accompanied by a substructure with dislocations after deformation at temperatures above the Ms temperature. The change in the substructure of lenticular martensite presumably resulted from the local temperature rise in the martensite plate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The microstructure and the strength of the lath martensite in Fe–0.2C and Fe–0.2C–2Mn alloys were analyzed as a function of the prior austenite grain size. The size of martensite packets formed within individual austenite grains was controlled by the austenite grain size but not affected by the Mn addition. However, the further subdivision of packets into blocks differed significantly in the two alloys, and at a given austenite grain size a smaller block size was observed in the Mn containing alloy. The yield strength of the two alloys was related to the packet size and the block size, respectively, and the results suggested that the block size is the key structural parameter when analyzing the strength–structure relationship of lath martensite in low carbon steels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The morphology and crystallography of lath martensite in two Mn-containing interstitial free steels and a maraging steel were examined in detail by a combination of transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction in a scanning electron microscope and optical microscopy. Indirect determination of the orientation relationship between the lath martensite and the austenite was made by analysis of misorientation distributions, and a similar orientation relationship was found for the three alloys in accordance with previous observations in low-carbon steels. Furthermore, the formation of six variants in a given packet and the preferential arrangement into blocks of low-misorientation variant pairs demonstrate a universality of morphology and crystallography of lath martensite. The presence of six variants in a packet can be accounted for by the minimization of the total shape strain introduced during the transformation. The lath boundaries developed within the volume of a certain variant show alternating misorientations and a mixed tilt and twist character characterizing these structures as low-energy dislocation structures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The orientation relationship of lenticular martensite (M) with respect to austenite (A) is nearly Greninger–Troiano at the midrib and twinned region but gradually deviates towards Kurdjumov–Sachs near the M/A interface. This change is related to the change in the substructure of martensite and also to the deformation in the surrounding austenite. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The morphology and crystallography of lath martensite in Fe-C alloys containing various carbon contents from 0.0026 to 0.61% were studied by analyzing electron back scattered diffraction patterns in scanning electron microscopy and Kikuchi diffraction patterns in transmission electron microscopy. As carbon content increases, the sizes of both packet and block decrease. In low carbon steels (0.0026–0.38%C), a block which is observed as having different contrasts under optical microscopy contains two groups (sub-blocks) of laths which are of two K-S variants with a misorientation of about 10 degrees. On the other hand, in the high carbon alloy (0.61%C), a block consists of laths of a single K-S variant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The change in morphology and substructure of α′ martensite with a volume change accompanying austenite (fcc) to martensite (bcc) transformation was studied using various Fe–Ni–Co alloys. The volume change accompanying martensitic transformation was decreased by the Invar effect of austenite with Co addition to the Fe–Ni binary alloys. In Fe–28Ni–20Co and Fe–24Ni–30Co (mass%) alloys, small and negative volume changes were established (−0.30% and −0.39%, respectively). With a decrease in volume change, the transition temperature of martensite morphology from lenticular to lath increases. The dislocation densities in martensite and austenite decrease as the volume change approaches zero. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]