Superplasticity in a lean Fe-Mn-Al steel

Superplastic alloys exhibit extremely high ductility (>300%) without cracks when tensile-strained at temperatures above half of their melting point. Superplasticity, which resembles the flow behavior of honey, is caused by grain boundary sliding in metals. Although several non-ferrous and ferrous superplastic alloys are reported, their practical applications are limited due to high material cost, low strength after forming, high deformation temperature, and complicated fabrication process. Here we introduce a new compositionally lean (Fe-6.6Mn-2.3Al, wt.%) superplastic medium Mn steel that resolves these limitations. The medium Mn steel is characterized by ultrafine grains, low material costs, simple fabrication, i.e., conventional hot and cold rolling, low deformation temperature (ca. 650 °C) and superior ductility above 1300% at 850 °C. We suggest that this ultrafine-grained medium Mn steel may accelerate the commercialization of superplastic ferrous alloys.