Effects of tic addition on strain-induced martensite transformation and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline fe-mn alloy fabricated by spark plasma sintering

The effect of TiC content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a nanocrystalline Fe-Mn alloy was investigated by XRD analysis, TEM observation, and mechanical tests. A sintered Fe-Mn alloy sample with nano-sized crystallites was obtained using spark plasma sintering. Crystallite size, which is used as a hardening mechanism, was measured by X-ray diffraction peak analysis. It was observed that the addition of TiC influenced the average size of crystallites, resulting in a change in austenite stability. Thus, the volume fraction of austenite at room temperature after the sintering process was also modified by the TiC addition. The martensite transformation during cooling was suppressed by adding TiC, which lowered the martensite start temperature. The plastic behavior and the strain-induced martensite kinetics formed during plastic deformation are discussed with compressive stress-strain curves and numerical analysis for the transformation kinetics.