Recrystallization and mechanical behavior of high Mn and low C cold rolled and annealed steel with TWIP effect

Increasing demand for automotive vehicles with reduced weight, improved crashworthiness and passengers safety has steamed the research of new Twinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steels. In this work the effect of annealing between 400 and 900oC on the microstructure and mechanical properties of hot and cold rolled 0.06C-24Mn-3Al-2Si-1Ni (wt%) steel with TWIP effect was investigated. The results have shown that steel exhibits fast recrystallization kinetics with a low amount of recovery, which results in a high driving force for the former. Mechanical properties were determined using Vickers microhardness and tensile tests. Tensile strength of 670 MPa with 54% of total elongation, and strain hardening exponent of 0.57 were reached after annealing at 900°C.