Identification and Modelling of the Behaviour of a Duplex Stainless Steel by Methods of Scale Changing

In order to model the mechanical behaviour of an austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel thanks to "composite" micromechanical non-linear models, its microstructure was analysed and the mechanical behaviour of each phase was characterised. The microstructural morphology of this steel was studied by selective dissolution of the austenitic phase. The microstructure consists of unconnected austenite islands dispersed in a ferritic matrix. Nano-indentation tests were carried out on each phase. These tests allowed to obtain the hardness and the Young modulus of each phase. A non-linear homogenization approach (secant and incremental formulations) was implemented and the results were compared to the monotonous macroscopic tensile tests carried out at constant strain rate. It allowed us to evaluate the relevance of the non-linear homogeneization models for the description of the elasto-plastic behaviour of the studied duplex stainless steel.