For the EN GX4CrNi13-4 martensitic stainless steel, research was conducted to investigate the impact of the quenching intensity and the content of nickel on the mechanical properties and amount of retained austenite. It was found that the amount of retained austenite significantly increases with growing nickel concentration. On the other hand, the cooling rate at quenching makes a difference only if the cooling is intensive, then amount of retained austenite decrease. A higher nickel content improves the mechanical properties. With more intensive cooling, the tensile strength decreases while the yield strength increases. The ductility is not significantly affected by the cooling intensity.

The paper presents the effect of deformation temperature on the mechanical stability of retained austenite in a multiphase TRIP steel. Series of static tensile tests were carried out in the temperature range –20 to 140°C in order to simulate the temperatures occurring during stamping process of automotive steel sheets and conditions of their exploitation. Samples deformed at 20°C and 60°C showed the best combination of strength and ductility. It was related to the gradual transformation of retained austenite into martensite. Obtained results revealed that the intensity of TRIP effect is significantly related to the deformation temperature. The amount of retained austenite, which transformed into martensite during plastic deformation decreases as the deformation temperature increases. It was also found that the stability of retained austenite depends on its morphology. The obtained results showed the relationship between deformation temperature and the stability of retained austenite. The chemical composition and microstructure of multiphase steels dedicated to the automotive industry should be designed for providing the maximum TRIP effect at the specific deformation temperatures.

Automotive industry is constantly interested in building cars made of light and high strength parts in order to reduce the emission levels, the fuel consumption and minimize the effects of a car crash. Some parts may be made of lighter materials, but the steel ones must compensate the strength needed for the car body. Research is made for finding new materials showing high strength combined with high ductility. Among them, transformation – induced – plasticity steels are of great interest, efforts being made to improve their characteristics. A new composition of such a steel is presented, its features being compared with those of three other steels of the same class and category. Optical microscopy at different magnifications is performed, together with Vickers hardness test. Structural particularities are found for each tested steel, justified by their own chemical compositions. The new steel reveals important characteristics: besides the mainly bainitic structure, it has both larger ferritic areas and amounts of retained austenite, making him proper for further study.

The paper presents stress-strain characteristics recorded during the four-step compression of axisymmetric samples in the Gleeble thermomechanical simulator. The hot deformability of three steels with Mn concentrations of 3%, 4% and 5% was compared. The analysis of the influence of plastic deformation and Mn content on the microstructure of alloys, and in particular, on a fraction and morphological features of the retained austenite, was performed. The proportion of the retained austenite was determined by the X-ray diffraction method. It was found that the content of Mn in the range from 3% to 5% does not have a significant impact on the high-temperature resistance of the steel during compression tests, but it has a significant influence on the microstructure of the steel and the fraction of retained austenite. The optimal conditions for maximizing the proportion of retained austenite were obtained at the temperature of 400 °C, and it decreased with increasing Mn concentration in the steel. It has been shown that it is related to the redistribution of carbon from the remaining austenite fraction with an increase in the manganese content. The mechanical properties were determined on the basis of hardness measurements.