Abstract: The microstruetural transformation of steels:20SiMn2V,20SiMn2VRE,40SiMn2V and 40SiMn2VRE during quenching and tempering have been examined by TEM,X-ray diffraction and dilatometer.It was shown that the addition of rare earth metals not only can refine the austenite grains of the low or medium carbon steels and packet of lath martensite and lath size,lower the M_s temperature,but can also raise the relative percentage of disloca- tion substructure of martensite in medium carbon steel,but there is little effect on volume frac- tion and thermal stability of retained austenite quenching and tempering structure of low or medium carbon steels.The rare earth metals may remarkably inhibit the decomposition of low carbon martensite during low temperature tempering,retard the precipitation of cementite plates in lath grains and delay the spheroidization of carbides.They may also restrain obvious- ly the precipitation and spheroidization of cementite in medium carbon martensite during high temperature tempering.

Key words: rare earth metals, tempering, SiMnV steel, microstrueture