Advanced Heat Treatments for Ferrous Alloys

The performance of steel and ductile iron can be improved through a deformation process called transformation induced plasticity (TRIP). New combinations of chemistry and heat treatment to produce microstructures that exhibit TRIP are still being developed. This paper reviews the development of advanced heat treatment cycles (conventional austempering and intercritical austempering) and the resulting properties for a variety of section sizes and steel & ductile iron chemistries.