The quenching and partitioning or Q & P process concept has been developed over the past few years,as a heat-treatment to produce martensitic microstructures with carbon-enriched metastable retained austenite.The process involves partial martensite formation by controlled quenching,followed by a thermal treatment to allow carbon transport from the (supersaturated)martensite into the remaining austenite.Potential applications involve high strength where retained austenite may be beneficial for formability,fracture resistance,etc.The process may be applicable to production of steel sheet and plate products,as well as heat treated components produced from long product forgings,and even cast-iron.The concept has been studied in the authors' laboratories since about 2003 and a series of publications is available documenting much of the early work.More recent studies have focused on understanding mechanistic details,and other independent research groups are now also making advancements in this field.
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