Interesting work! I thought aging at room temperature will occur only in the light metals.

In this work, I would be interested in what happens to the retained austenite. One way you could explore this is to quench different samples above and below the martensite finish temperature, to create structures with and without retained austenite.

Hardness definitely effected for this cases.

Dear sir,

No external load, sample after quenching kept at room temperature.

Shivraj

Hej!

From my own experience on martensite, the peak broadening reduce a lot after aging(stay) at room temperature for about 6 months, which in some case indicates that its dislocation density decreases. Another thing you may prove is: if you calculate the diffusive distance of carbon at room temperature for that period you will find the length scale is comparable with the detectable resolution by the advanced instruments.

I hope this can give you some idea about your questions.

Thanks a lot sir, will it not increase strength an hardness after relaxing for 6 months after quenching and then tempered

Hej!Shivraj,

This really depends, e.g., temperature and alloys itself, and the strength maybe increased or decreased.

Thanks.