The quenching and partitioning （Q＆P） process was experimentally investigated on the thermomechanical simulator （Gleeble3800）. The microstructure and fracture mechanism of the sheets were investigated by means of TEM. It was found that the microstructure of quenched and partitioned steel consists of fine lath martensite and thin inter-lath austenite films. The optimum quenching temperature of producing the maximum amount of retained austenite after final quenching at room temperature was predicted by Matlab software package. It was found that the calculations by Matlab software can provide guidance for experimental processing design reliably. The volume fraction of retained austenite at room temperature was approximately 8%, which was measured easily by the software VC6.0＋＋ programming. The results verified that quenched and partitioned steel possesses a good combination of strength and plasticity due to its fine microstructure. This steel exhibited high ultimate tensile strength （exceeding 1 000 MPa） and good elongation of 25%. The results showed that the fracture mechanism of the sheets is typical tough fracture under the condition of tensile failure.
The influence of cold rolling reduction on microstructure and mechanical properties of the TWIP （ttwinning induced plasticity） steel was investigated. The results＇ indicated that the steel had better comprehensive mechanical properties when cold rolling reduction was about 65.0% and the annealing temperature was 1000℃. The tensile strength of the steel is about 640MPa and the yield strength is higher than 255MPa, while the elongation is＇ above 82%. The microstructure is composed of austenitic matrix and annealing twins at room temperature, at the same time, a significant amount of annealing twins and stacking faults＇ are observed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Mechanical twins play a dominant role during deformation, and result in exceUent mechanical properties.
The microstructure characteristics of an Fe-Mn-C TWIP steel after deformation are investigated. The results show that the hot-rolled, cold-rolled and then annealed sample of the Fe-Mn-C TWIP steel has excellent mechanical properties, and the true stress-true strain curve from tension tests exhibits repeated serrations. The deformed microstructure exhibits the typical planar glide characteristics such as no cell formation, dislocation pile-ups on a single slip plane, mechanical twins and stacking faults. There are equiaxial and deep dimple structures in the fractograph, indicative of a ductile fracture. Microcracks initiate from inclusions and twin-twin intersections. Deformation and fracture processes are the formation, growth and coalescence of microvoids.
Microstructures and mechanical properties of the 25Mn twinning induced plasticity （TWIP） steel at different annealing temperatures were investigated. The results indicated that when the annealing temperature was 1000℃, the 25Mn steel showed excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, the tensile strength was about 640 MPa, the yield strength was higher than 255 MPa, and the elongation was above 82%. The microstructure was analyzed by optical microscopy （OM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Before deformation the microstructure was composed of austenitic matrix and annealing twins at room temperature; at the same time, a significant amount of annealing twins and stacking faults were observed by TEM. Mechanical twins played a dominant role in deformation and as a result the mechanical properties were found to be excellent.
Zhen-li Mi Di Tang Hai-tao Jiang Yong-juan Dai Shen-sheng Li
