Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor 1

Joshua J. Mueller

Committee Member 1

Sriram Vijayan

Committee Member 2

Caleb Stetson

Abstract

Steel microstructures that contain retained austenite exhibit unique mechanical flow behavior which renders them applicable to high-strength forming, and energy absorbing applications. Austenite stability is predominantly controlled through substitutional alloy enrichment, and during deformation, meta-stable austenite transforms to martensite which induces dramatic work hardening that may enhance mechanical properties. After deformation, these steels have greater yield strength but limited remaining ductility. Restoration of austenite through rapid thermal treatments, after it is expended through deformation, can enable retained austenite to be leveraged for additional deformation. In the present work, a rapid austenite restoration heat treatment following deformation-induced martensite transformation is presented along with the corresponding effects of this treatment on mechanical flow behavior. The results showed that austenite forms rapidly during the first few seconds of intercritical holding from a pre-partitioned, ferritic microstructure. Experimental characterization is discussed to elucidate microstructural evolution during thermal processing, and opportunities for future work are presented.

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