Effect of non-isothermal deformation of austenite on ferrite transformation behavior studied by in-situ neutron diffraction

The microstructure evolution and phase transformation of high strength 22SiMn2TiB steel during non-isothermal deformation were investigated by using in situ time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffraction technique. The results indicate that the deformation of austenite promotes pearlite and ferrite transformation while suppresses bainite transformation. Deformation texture forms in austenite and then it influences the evolution of transformation texture. Deformation of austenite brings the changes in lattice parameters of austenite caused by carbon partitioning and elastic strains during the transformation. Volume fraction of the retained austenite decreases with a decreased carbon content as deformation amount increases.