15CrN6 | 1.5919 +A faulty soft annealing

The sample should be in the soft-annealed condition (+A), but contains bainite.

This means that the heat treatment was defective. Either the soft annealing was insufficient (temperature too low or duration too short), or the sample was cooled too rapidly after the soft annealing treatment.

At 262 HV 1, the hardness is 100 HV 1 higher than in the actual soft-annealed condition (see case study with correct heat treatment, https://www.schmitz-metallographie.de/en/gefuge/1-5919-15crn6-a-2/).