Some aspects of the determination of retained austenite using the Rietveld refinement

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to show the advantage of the application of the Rietveld refinement for determination of retained austenite amount in multiphase microstructure steels. Design/methodology/approach: The steels used for the investigation were thermomechanically rolled and controlled cooled to room temperature. The investigation of the microstructure was carried out using light microscopy. X-ray diffraction investigations of analyzed steel were a major part of the research. The phase identification and quantitative analysis of retained austenite were done using the HighScore Plus software that includes the Rietveld refinement method. The Rietveld analysis takes into account the preferred orientation that occurs during thermo-mechanical processing of steel. Findings: It was found that after the thermo-mechanical processing the microstructure of steel is composed of fine-grained bainitic matrix which includes bainite-austenite constituents, martensite blocks and some fraction of retained austenite. The X-ray diffraction showed that this steel includes phases of Feα (bainite and martensite) and Feγ (retained austenite). The Rietveld analysis showed that the volume fraction of retained austenite is 14.1%. Research limitations/implications: To confirm that Rietveld refinement method is a good tool for the quantitative analysis of retained austenite volume fraction EBSD measurements should be done for comparison purposes. Practical implications: The obtained results can be used for determination of retained austenite fraction in AHSS steels. It is important because the retained austenite content and its mechanical stability decide about a formability level of these steel grades. Originality/value: Some methodological aspects are concerned affecting the final quantitative results of retained austenite volume fraction is AHSS.

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Opracowanie ze środków MNiSW w ramach umowy 812/P-DUN/2016 na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (zadania 2017).