Tensile Ductility of Nanostructured Bainitic Steels: Influence of Retained Austenite Stability

High silicon (>1.5%) steels with different compositions were isothermally transformed to bainite at 220 and 250 ◦C to produce what is often referred to as nanostructured bainite. Interrupted tensile tests were carried out and the retained austenite was measured as a function of strain. Results were correlated with tensile ductility. The role of retained austenite stability is remarkably underlined as strongly affecting the propensity to brittle failure, but also the tensile ductility. A simple quantitative relationship is proposed that clearly delimitates the different behaviours (brittle/ductile) and correlates well with the measured ductility. Conclusions are proposed as to the role of retained austenite fraction and the existence of a threshold value associated with tensile rupture.