Structure and microstructure evolution of a ternary Fe–Cr–Ni alloy akin to super martensitic stainless steel

• Reaustenisation by recrystallisation rather by a diffusion controlled process.
• Ultrafine grained austenite formation in martensite matrix by recrystallisation.
• In situ high temperature austenite transformation studies by X-ray diffraction.
• Microstructure tailoring to achieve tensile strength (∼1 GPa) with good ductility.

A ternary Fe–Cr–Ni alloy, akin to super martensitic stainless steels was prepared in vacuum induction furnace. The as cast ingot was solution treated at 1200 °C for 25 h and then hot forged and rolled to reduce into plate form. The hot rolled plate of martensitic microstructure was then cold rolled to 80% of thickness reduction. The phase transformation studies by X-ray diffraction analysis of hot and cold rolled specimens showed presence of retained austenite in air cooled as well as in water quenched state after annealing/austenising temperature of 1060 °C. The reaustenisation behaviour of the cold rolled alloy in water quenched state was studied by high temperature X-ray diffraction analysis. It showed very stable martensitic phase and the completion of reaustenisation process were observed to occur at about 950 °C. The recrystallisation behaviour of cold rolled material under isothermal and repeated annealing treatment was studied in detail by electron microscope. The tensile properties of the material were evaluated after various annealing treatments. The study revealed that by a suitable sequence of repetitive annealing process microstructure could be tailored to achieve tensile strength above 1 GPa with good ductility in a super martensitic stainless steel.