Effect of intercritical quenching and tempering on microstructure and properties of DP1180

Advanced high-strength steels for automobiles are attracting more and more attention due to the need to conserve energy, reduce emissions, and develop lightweight designs. DP1180 is set to become the mainstay of automotive steel, offering a good combination of strength and plasticity. In this paper, the effect of the quenching temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the DP1180 steel has been studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mechanical tests. The results show that the DP1180 steel had the highest product of strength and plasticity equal to 15.7 GPa·%, quenched at 825°C and tempered at 430°C for 5 minutes, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) is about 1, 342 MPa, and the total elongation is 11.7%. This study offers a dependable theoretical guideline for the optimization of process parameters for the production of DP1180 steel.