Modeling of plasticity-induced martensitic transformation to achieve hierarchical, heterogeneous, and tailored microstructures in stainless steels

Abstract

While stainless steels (SS) have excellent corrosion resistance for use in industries such as chemical and food processing, medical implants made of such steels require more stringent specifications, e.g., high strength while maintaining a low weight. A way to design and manufacture such behavior of SS is through the intentional deformation induced manipulation of constituent phases to achieve heterogeneous and hierarchical microstructures. In this paper, an elasto-plastic self-consistent modeling framework incorporating a strain-induced austenite-to-martensite transformation kinetic sub-model is calibrated using a set of SS304L data from the literature to capture stress-strain response and volume fraction of phases. The model is then validated by predicting the mechanical responses of SS316L using a new data set recorded as a function of strain-rate and temperature. By accurately predicting the material behavior, the modeling results can guide the manufacturing process to achieve the desired final part properties.