Abstract:
Due to varied demands from the automotive industry, the third generation of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) has been developed. Some processes, such as Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P), have also been proposed to improve the mechanical properties of these steels, targeting specific applications. To increase the application potential of this heat treatment, a route prior to the Q&P process named Intercritical Austenitizing (IA) has been applied. However, small variations in important processing parameters, such as the heating rate, cause significant changes in the microstructural evolution and can compromise the final result of the thermal cycle. To ensure that there is a minimum of divergences ON the prediction of results depending on the experimentally applied thermal cycle, prediction models have been widely used. In this context, the present work proposes two methods of applying Vickers microhardness (HV) as tools for predicting the fraction of phases present in the microstructure of the studied steel when intercritically austenitized.