*2.2. Heat Treatments*

Samples having the initial microstructural conditions were subjected to intercritical and supercritical treatments using a continuous annealing line (CAL) induction 30 kW, 3-phase 480 V laboratory simulator with automated computer control for heating and cooling. This system is capable of reheating a sample 1.9 cm in thickness from RT (room temperature) to 1400 ◦C in 2.5 s and capable of rapid controlled cooling at 300 ◦C/s. The samples used in this study were 25.4 cm in length × 2.54 cm in width × 0.25 cm in thickness. A schematic of some of the heat treatments and cooling conditions used in this study are shown in Figure 3. The range of heat treatments studied included the temperatures of 732, 756, 772, 792, 845, 895, 1000 and 1050 ◦C, respectively.

**Figure 3.** Schematic representation of the heat treatment cycles and photo of the laboratory CAL-induction simulator. TA3 is the transformation temperature.
