Characterization of the microstructure of a highstrength manganese steel using different microscopy methods

The aim of this contribution is to study by means of different experimental techniques the microstructure of a high manganese Fe-0.8C-16Mn steel in cold rolled and annealed condition. The steel was characterized by light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Different etching methods were compared in the study. The analysis of the optical micrographs are discussed and compared with the other investigated techniques. The study showed the importance of the sample preparation and etching methods in order to characterize the annealed microstructure and allow studying the phase transformations.