Revealing the Effect of Microstructural Inheritance in 1.5 GPa Hot-Rolled Ultrahigh Strength Q&P Steels

At present, optimization of mechanical properties in quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steels relies primarily on the tailoring of microstructural characteristics by manipulating the alloying elements and the Q&P process. However, adjusting the final microstructure by taking advantage of the inheritance effect derived from the initial microstructure has received less attention. Based on a typical Fe–C–Mn–Si system, the present investigation explores the effect of microstructural inheritance in an ultrahigh strength hot-rolled Q&P steel. The typical hot rolling process is followed by three cooling rates, including quenching, air cooling, and coil cooling, to obtain different initial microstructures of full martensite, bainite–austenite, and ferrite–pearlite, respectively. The same Q&P treatment is then performed to elucidate the inheritance mechanism, and the final Q&P products consist of different fractions of tempered martensite, retained austenite, bainite and fresh martensite. With decreasing cooling rates after hot rolling, the ultimate tensile strengths of the steels after the Q&P treatment are identical at ~ 1.5 GPa, while the total elongations increase gradually from 10.9, 12.7 to 14.5 pct. The highest elongation of the coil-cooled Q&P steel can be attributed to the effect of microstructural inheritance on the Q&P process and retained austenite, leading to larger austenite grain sizes and more equiaxed morphologies. The combination of austenite chemistry and morphology results in the optimal mechanical stability for retained austenite to provide continuous and durable strain hardening. Compared to cold-rolled products, hot-rolled Q&P steel is very attractive to the industry as it can potentially eliminate the cold rolling step and reduce the production cost. Utilizing the microstructural inheritance effect provides a simple and feasible route to control the microstructures and mechanical properties of ultrahigh strength hot-rolled Q&P steel.