Age hardening analysis of a hot rolled copper-alloyed interstitial free steel

Age hardening behaviour has been studied in a hot rolled copper-alloyed high strength interstitial free steel. The steel can be hardened to the peak-ageing strength employing low temperature coiling without any additional processing step. The age hardening data has been analysed with the available models for age hardening. The validity of the models has been tested and discussed to understand the effect of temperature on the peak-ageing time and the shape of the age hardening curves.