AbstractA series of C–Mn(–Al) steels containing 0·3 or 1·4 wt-%Mn and increasing volume fractions of AlN was deformed in compression at strain rates from 3×10−2to 3×10−4s−1and temperatures from 850 to 1100°C; the peak strainsεpwere determined. In the lower part of the test temperature range (i.e. below the temperature at which AlN particles lose their effectiveness in restraining grain growth),εpincreased with volume fraction of AlN in low (0;·3%) and high (1·4%) Mn steels. Pinning of the boundaries by the AlN particles also resulted in unusual flow curves, in which the first peak was significantly lower than the second, behaviour that was most marked for the low Mn steels. At the higher temperatures, AlN volume fraction had little effect on the behaviour of any of the steels. In the high Mn steels,εpdecreased with increasing temperature in the conventional manner. In the low Mn steels,εpfirst decreased with temperature; then, at the grain coarsening temperature, there was a dramatic increase inεpfollowed by a further gradual decrease. The unusual behaviour with regard to the change ofεpwith temperature exhibited by the low Mn steels is interpreted in terms of their grain coarsening behaviour, which is markedly different from that observed in high Mn steels.MST/1440