| Summary: | The presence of strain-induced phases formed in the course of ausforming step has been proven by thermodynamic calculation, microstructural observation and hardness examination, besides that, the effect of ausforming parameters on isothermally transformed bainite during austempering step was also essentially investigated. The results indicated that the types of strain-induced phases were determined by ausforming temperature and strain, for instance, the trace of strain-induced martensite could be detected in the sample subjected to ausforming at 300 °C for 20% strain. However, ausforming would introduce strain-induced bainite at a higher ausforming temperature (500 °C) instead of strain-induced martensite, which could gradually increase the average thickness of bainitic ferrite lath and impair bulk hardness with raising ausforming strain. Although ausforming process lessened the maximum attainable volume fraction of bainitic ferrite formed during austempering stage due to austenite mechanical stabilization, the existence of strain-induced martensite and the refined bainitic sheaves would make a contribution to hardness improvement when ausformed at 300 °C.
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