Mechanical Properties of High-Manganese Austenitic TWIP-Type Steel

Taking into consideration increased quantity of accessories used in modern cars, decreasing car’s weight can be achieved solely by optimization of sections of sheets used for bearing and reinforcing elements as well as for body panelling parts of a car. Application of sheets with lower thickness requires using sheets with higher mechanical properties, however keeping adequate formability. The goal of structural elements such as frontal frame side members, bumpers and the others is to take over the energy of an impact. Therefore, steels that are used for these parts should be characterized by high value of UTS and UEl, proving the ability of energy absorption. Among the wide variety of recently developed steels, high-manganese austenitic steels with low stacking faulty energy are particularly promising, especially when mechanical twinning occurs. Beneficial combination of high strength and ductile properties of these steels depends on structural processes taking place during cold plastic deformation, which are a derivative of SFE of austenite, dependent, in turn on the chemical composition of steel and deformation temperature. High-manganese austenitic steels in effect of application of proper heat treatment or thermo-mechanical treatment can be characterized by different structure assuring the advantageous connection of strength and plasticity properties. Proper determinant of these properties can be plastic deformation energy supply determined by integral over surface of cold plastic deformation curve. Obtaining of high strength properties with retaining the high plasticity has significant influence for the development of high-manganese steel groups and their significance for the development of materials engineering.