Annealing-induced Hardening in a Nanostructured Low-carbon Steel Prepared by Using Dynamic Plastic Deformation

Lamellar nanostructures were induced in a plain martensitic low-carbon steel by using dynamic plastic deformation at room temperature. The nanostructured steel was hardened after annealing at 673 K for 20 min, with a tensile strength increased from 1.2 GPa to 1.6 GPa. Both the remained nanostructures and annealing-induced precipitates in nano-scale play key roles in the hardening.