Improved tensile properties of partially recrystallized submicron grained TWIP steel

The effects of cold rolling reduction and annealing temperature on the mechanical properties of twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steel have been investigated. The results indicated that the strengthening effect of unrecrystallized areas with a high density of nano-scale mechanical twins increased with increasing cold rolling reduction. In addition, the ductility also increased with increasing annealing temperature. Therefore, utilization of large cold rolling reduction and subsequently annealing treatment in the partial recrystallization region was suggested as an effective method to obtain submicron grained TWIP steel with an excellent combination of strength and ductility.