Search

Medium Mn transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels, a subgroup of third generation advanced high-strength steels (AHSS), often present a combination of both dynamic strain aging (DSA) and TRIP. It has been previously shown that TRIP coincides with the passage of strain bands due to DSA, but their interdependence has not been well-established. This study seeks to explore the interactions between the two phenomena as well as the commonly-observed negative strain rate sensitivity. Digital image correlation (DIC) and in-situ magnetic measurements of the retained austenite fraction were employed to demonstrate the variations in mechanical behavior with increasing strain rate. Strain rate jump tests provided measurements of the strain rate sensitivity and were combined with either DIC to characterize PLC bands or with magnetic measurements to measure variations in the martensite fraction during the jumps. Finally, the micromechanics defining the peculiar bursts of martensite transformation in response to strain rate jumps are discussed in terms of a competition between dislocation mobility and austenite stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the microstructure, plastic flow and fracture behavior of a laboratory Al-containing low density Fe-0.3C-6.7Mn-5.9Al medium Mn steel, intercritically annealed at either 850 °C or 900 °C, after cold rolling. Both resulting materials present an unordinary bimodal duplex microstructure made of coarse δ-ferrite grains and fine-grained (FG) {α-ferrite + retained austenite} regions. Tensile tests at room temperature and at −50 °C and Charpy impact tests showed that for both materials, each microstructural region presents its own fracture mechanisms and a specific ductile-to-brittle transition. A transition from brittle cleavage to ductile fracture is observed for coarse δ-ferrite grains, while FG regions present a transition from interfacial fracture to ductile fracture. The overall impact behavior seems to be driven by that of δ-ferrite grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Fe-0.2C-5Mn-2.5Al medium manganese steel is studied for three different intercritical annealing temperatures T IA to observe the effects of variations of retained austenite stability on the mechanical work hardening in uniaxial tension. Digital image correlation (DIC) showed that both Lüders bands and type A Portevin-le-Châtelier (PLC) bands occurred in samples with a lower T IA , but both disappeared when T IA was increased. In-situ measurements of sample magnetization with a correction for stress effects on the magnetic properties of the sample allowed for continuous measurement of the retained austenite volume fraction. This method provided a complete characterization of the kinetics of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) in the sample over the course of tensile testing. It is shown that the martensite transformation was purely strain-induced and coincided with the passage of both Lüders and PLC bands. An Olson-Cohen model was applied to magnetic data to attempt to explain the differences in TRIP kinetics with varying T IA . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]