Chemical-mechanical polishing of TRIP steel surface

TRIP steels are mostly used due to their high mechanical properties in the automotive industry. The excellent mechanical properties of these steels are inseparably related to the retained austenite phase (γ) phase. Therefore, accurate knowledge of γ phase volume fraction, size, and distribution within a matrix is crucial for a correct understanding of the structure-properties relationship. This study aims to clarify the effect of the sample preparation technique on the results of phase analysis obtained by an electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) method. For EBSD analysis, the TRIP steel specimens were prepared by various techniques, such as mechanical polishing, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), and electropolishing. The CMP technique shows the most promising results. Therefore, this work focuses mainly on a methodology for optimizing this technique.