Formation of reversed austenite during tempering of 14Cr−7Ni−0.3Nb−0.7Mo−0.03C super martensitic stainless steel

AbstractReversed austenite transformation and existence of retained austenite during tempering of the super martensitic stainless steel of Fe-14Cr-7Ni-0.3Nb-0.7Mo-0.03C were studied by means of experiments on microstructure and X-ray diffraction, and tensile and hardness tests. Acicular type retained austenite at the lath boundary of martensite with the interior appeared after solution annealing. This retained austenite still existed, and reversed austenite was not formed, with tempering up to 24h at 450°C. The reversed austenite began to form above 550°C, and the volume fraction of reversed austenite decreased with increasing tempering temperature after showing a maximum value of 19.2% at 650°C. This maximum volume fraction of reversed austenite was responsible for the lowest value of strength and hardness. The Ni contents of plate type reversed austenite and the surrounding matrix increased and decreased respectively, implying that the reversed austenite was formed as a result of nickel diffusion. The orientation relationships between reversed austenite and the surrounding matrix showed a K-S relationship of $$(\bar 11\bar 1)_\gamma //(01\bar 1)_m $$ and $$[011]_\gamma //[\bar 111]_m $$ .