Effect of thermo-mechanical process on the microstructure and secondary-deformation behavior of 22MnB5 steels

22MnB5 steel specimens were deformed at 923 K and 693 K to three strain levels to study the effect of applied strain level on the microstructure and secondary-deformation behavior. As the steel was deformed at 923 K, deformation induced ferrite transformation (DIFT) occurred even when a small strain of 0.044 was applied, and the volume fraction of deformation induced ferrite (DIF) increases with increasing applied strain level. When deformed at 693 K, deformation induced bainite transformation (DIBT) was observed when the applied strain was larger than 0.109. The incubation period for DIFT is shorter than that for DIBT, but the DIBT proceeds much faster than DIFT. Sub-size tensile specimens were cut from the hot deformed 22MnB5 steel specimens, and digital image correlation technique was employed to investigate the secondary-deformation behavior of the sub-size tensile specimens at room temperature. It is found that the appearance of DIF or DIB (deformation induced bainite) decreases the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) but increases the elongation and strength–ductility product of the hot deformed 22MnB5 steel specimens compared with the as-quenched 22MnB5 steel specimen with full martensite.