*Review* **Ultrafast Heating Heat Treatment Effect on the Microstructure and Properties of Steels**

**Matteo Gaggiotti 1, Luciano Albini 2, Paolo Emilio Di Nunzio 2, Andrea Di Schino 1, Giulia Stornelli 3,\* and Giulia Tiracorrendo <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The adoption of the ultrafast heating (UFH) process has gained much attention in the last few years, as the green energy and minimization of CO2 emissions are the main aspects of contemporary metal science and thermal treatment. The effect of ultrafast heating (UFH) treatment on carbon steels, non-oriented grain (NGO) electrical steels, and ferriticor austenitic stainless steels is reported in this review. The study highlights the effect of ultrarapid annealing on microstructure and textural evolution in relation to microstructural constituents, recrystallization temperatures, and its effect on mechanical properties. A strong influence of the UFH process was reported on grain size, promoting a refinement in terms of both prior austenite and ferrite grain size. Such an effect is more evident in medium–low carbon and NGO steels than that in ferritic/austenitic stainless steels. A comparison between conventional and ultrafast annealing on stainless steels shows a slight effect on the microstructure. On the other hand, an evident increase in uniform elongation was reported due to UFH. Textural evolution analysis shows the effect of UFH on the occurrence of the Goss component (which promotes magnetic properties), and the opposite with the recrystallization g-fiber. The recovery step during annealing plays an important role in determining textural features; the areas of higher energy content are the most suitable for the nucleation of the Goss component. As expected, the slow annealing process promoted equiaxed grains, whereas rapid heating promoted microstructures with elongated grains as a result of the cold deformation.

**Keywords:** ultrafast heating; heat treatment; carbon steels; stainless steels; NGO steel; microstructure
