Revealing the effects of martensitic transformation and dislocation slip in austenite on the micromechanical behaviors of a 9Ni steel using crystal plasticity finite element method

Abstract

Austenite is an extremely important phase that significantly influence the mechanical properties of (austenite + martensite) duplex steels. Two different deformation mechanisms, i.e., dislocation slip and martensitic transformation, can be activated in the austenite upon plastic deformation. However, these two deformation mechanisms make different contributions to the work hardening and flow stress of the austenite which are hardly separated by experimental methods, making it difficult to clarify the effect of austenite on the micromechanical behavior of (austenite + martensite) duplex steels. In this work, the influence of martensitic transformation and dislocation slip in austenite on the micromechanical behaviors is investigated in a model 9Ni steel consisting of austenite and tempered martensite (TM) using the crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM). The austenite and fresh martensite (FM) formed within the austenite grain upon deformation process are regarded as a whole named as FM/A island in the CPFEM. To accurately model the rate of martensitic transformation, the martensitic transformation kinetics law used in the CPFEM is developed by relating the number of possible nucleation sites for fresh martensite to the mechanical driving force originating from the resolved shear stress on each transformation system. The material parameters for the TM were determined by micropillar compression tests. Besides, the method for separating and determining the material parameters accounting for dislocation slip in austenite and martensitic transformation by a combination of neutron diffraction and measurements of stress-strain curves and austenite volume fractions is developed and exemplified. The CPFEM simulation results show that the local concentration of equivalent plastic strain and stress triaxiality in the FM/A island can be enhanced by the dislocation slip in austenite but suppressed by the martensitic transformation. In addition, the martensitic transformation has a remarkable effect on strengthening the local concentration of maximum principal stress in the FM/A island.