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The article focuses on the effect of alloying and microstructure on formability of advanced high strength steels (AHSSs) processed via quenching and partitioning (Q&P). Three different Q&P steels with different combination of alloying elements and volume fraction of retained austenite are subjected to uniaxial tensile and Nakajima testing. Tensile mechanical properties are determined, and the forming limit diagrams (FLDs) are plotted. Microstructure of the tested samples is analyzed, and dramatic reduction of retained austenite fraction is detected. It is demonstrated that all steels are able to accumulate much higher amount of plastic strain when tested using Nakajima method. The observed phenomenon is related to the multiaxial stress state and strain gradients through the sheet thickness resulting in a fast transformation of retained austenite, as well as the ability of the tempered martensitic matrix to accumulate plastic strain. Surprisingly, a Q&P steel with the highest volume fraction of retained austenite and highest tensile ductility shows the lowest formability among studied grades. The latter observation is related to the highest sum of fractions of initial fresh martensite and stress/strain induced martensite promoting formation of microcracks. Their role and ability of tempered martensitic matrix to accumulate plastic deformation during forming of Q&P steels is discussed., Comment: 12 figures, 6 tables

This work focuses on the effect of soaking time on the microstructure during ultrafast heat treatment of a 50% cold rolled low carbon steel with initial ferritic-pearlitic microstructure. Dilatometry analysis was used to estimate the effect of heating rate on the phase transformation temperatures and to select an appropriate inter-critical temperature for final heat treatments. A thorough qualitative and quantitative microstructural characterization of the heat treated samples is performed using a wide range of characterization techniques. A complex multiphase, hierarchical microstructure consisting of ferritic matrix with embedded martensite and retained austenite is formed after all applied heat treatments. In turn, the ferritic matrix contains recrystallized and non-recrystallized grains. It is demonstrated that the ultrafast heating generally results in finer microstructure compared to the conventional heating independently on the soaking time. There is a significant effect of the soaking time on the volume fraction of martensite of the ultrafast heated material, while in the samples heated with conventional heating rate it remains relatively unchanged during soaking. Recrystallization, recovery and phase transformations occurring during soaking are discussed with respect to the applied heating rate.