Multiphase Transformation-induced Plasticity Steels Research Articles

Unique microstructure formations during low-temperature partitioning after intercritical annealing in low alloy multi-phase TRIP steel and their mechanical behavior clarified by in-situ synchrotron X-Ray diffraction

Strong attentions have been paid to low-carbon multi-phased steels showing transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) effect as good candidates for automotive applications due to their good mechanical balance between strength and ductility. However, details of complicated microstructural evolutions during thermo-mechanical processing and the roles of constituent phases on mechanical properties have not yet been fully clarified. In the present study, the formation process of multi-phased microstructures in a low alloy steel (Fe-0.2C-1.6Mn-1.4Si-1.0Ni-0.5Al: wt.%) during intercritical annealing in austenite + ferrite temperature (830 °C) and subsequent partitioning heat-treatment at lower temperature (400 °C) were systematically investigated. The phase fraction of ferrite (F), martensite (M), and retained austenite (A) significantly changed with increasing the holding time at 400 °C. It was observed that austenite transformed into ferrite during the heat-treatment at 400 °C to form newly formed ferrite having different characteristics. The ferrite in the final microstructures was categorized into four types (Type I, II, III and IV), based on their morphologies and other features. The ferrite newly formed at 400 °C (Type II, III, IV) were concluded to be formed by massive or bainitic transformation from their characteristics, i.e., morphologies, existence of surface relief, dislocations and misorientations, chemical compositions, and thermodynamic considerations. Long-range diffusion of substitutional elements did not occur in the phase transformation, but interstitial carbon diffused and enriched into austenite, resulting in large fractions of retained austenite at room temperature. Tensile mechanical properties of the obtained multi-phase steel were systematically clarified by in-situ synchrotron X-Ray diffraction. Tensile elongation increases with increasing the holding time at 400 °C, because the amount of retained austenite increased with the partitioning heat-treatment and they showed the TRIP effect through deformation-induced martensitic transformation during tensile deformation. On the other hand, the best strength-ductility balance was obtained in the specimen experienced the shortest heat-treatment at 400 °C.

An in situ investigation of neighborhood effects in a ferrite-containing quenching and partitioning steel: Mechanical stability, strain partitioning, and damage

Understanding the micromechanical consequences of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP)-assisted steels is challenging, due to the presence of multiple phase constituents and difficulties in spatially and temporally resolving the transformation of sub-micron scale retained austenite. Local stress or strain partitioning among constituents is considered important in determining the stability of retained austenite, which often competes with other effects such as composition or crystal orientation. In this work, we study the neighborhood effects on micromechanical behaviors of multi-phase TRIP steel using a ferrite-containing quenching and partitioning steel as a model system by employing in situ SEM/EBSD and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction tensile tests, phase-specific nanoindentation, and atom probe tomography. Our results reveal that retained austenite, bainite, and tempered martensite clusters behave similarly due to underlying strengthening mechanisms, resulting in the early transformation of retained austenite surrounded by bainite and tempered martensite matrices. Conversely, in large ferrite grains, the intragranular strain distribution develops heterogeneously, which retards the transformation of some embedded retained austenite grains. The in situ microstructure-based strain mapping also demonstrates that the local strain increment of the retained austenite inside ferrite grains decreases as the deformation level increases, leading to a non-linear strain partitioning behavior at high strain levels. Another neighborhood-induced effect is observed in ferrite grains. When ferrite grains are neighbored by hard fresh martensite, their lateral contraction is inhibited, causing a plane strain tension path locally in ferrite, even when the globally applied strain path is uniaxial tension.

Role of surrounding phases on deformation-induced martensitic transformation of retained austenite in multi-phase TRIP steel

Deformation-induced martensitic transformation is a key phenomenon to manage both high strength and large ductility in low alloy multi-phase steels. Significant enhancement of strain hardening ability could be achieved by the phase transformation from soft austenite to hard martensite during deformation, which is known as transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) effect. The occurrence of TRIP effect can be controlled by austenite characteristics like carbon content, grain size and morphology. Additionally, the mechanical interaction with other phases surrounding each austenite grain during deformation would affect the stability of austenite, which has not been clarified. The current study has clarified how surrounding phases affect the mechanical stability of austenite against deformation-induced martensitic transformation. Two types of multi-phase microstructures composed of three different phases, i.e., ferrite (α) + austenite (γ) + martensite (M) and two phases of ferrite (α) + austenite (γ) were fabricated in Fe-1.6Mn-1.4Si-1.0Ni-0.5Al-0.2C, maintaining the characteristics of retained austenite nearly the same. It was found that the α+γ+M specimen exhibited slower rate of deformation-induced martensitic transformation during tensile deformation than the α+γ specimen, indicating higher austenite stability in the α+γ+M specimen. The in-situ synchrotron XRD measurements during tensile deformation revealed that there was significant stress partitioning between austenite and adjacent phases (ferrite, martensite and deformation-induced martensite), which influenced the phase transformation rate of austenite into deformation-induced martensite. Furthermore, it was also clarified by the in-situ synchrotron XRD that the austenite in the α+γ+M specimen always had higher stress than that in the α+γ specimen due to higher dislocation density in austenite introduced by martensitic transformation to form pre-existing martensite, so that higher stress was required for deformation-induced martensitic transformation in the α+γ+M specimen during tensile deformation than the α+γ specimen.

Analysis of temperature and stress-strain fields during laser beam welding of a TRIP steel

Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels belong to the group of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) that are characterized by good strength-strain combination and formability required for special applications in the automotive industry. The excellent combination of strength, ductility and formability of TRIP steels is achieved by a careful control of microstructure development in the process of their production. The microstructure of multiphase TRIP steels typically consists of ferrite, carbide-free bainite and metastable retained austenite, which can be transformed into martensite by plastic deformation. Upon crash, this feature allows the TRIP steels to absorb more energy, ensuring greater passenger safety. In the automotive industry, TRIP steels are mainly joined by resistance spot welding, laser or electron beam welding. Generally, the thermal cycle of a fusion welding process destroys the sophistically designed microstructure of these steels in fusion and heat-affected zones resulting in deterioration of mechanical properties of the weld joint. Negative consequences of the welding process can be eliminated using proper welding parameters. The paper deals with numerical simulation and analysis of the temperature and stress-strain fields developed during the laser beam welding of a CMnSiNb TRIP steel sheets with the thickness of 2 mm. Simulation model takes into account non-linear temperature and phase dependent material properties. The heat input during the laser beam welding is modelled using the conical volumetric heat source. The optimal welding parameters for production of butt joints of CMnSiNb TRIP steel sheets using the TruDisk 4002 disc laser with the maximum power of 2 kW are designed.

Numerical modeling of TRIP steel in axial crashworthiness

With their high strain rate hardening capacity and good combination of strength and ductility, transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steels offer lightweight solutions for reinforcement components undergoing crash events. The TRIP effect correlates with stress-stimulated martensitic transformation from austenite, which depends on a myriad of kinematic ingredients, including three-dimensional plastic deformation, temperature change, strain-rate, and stress state. The complex interdependency of these kinematic ingredients requires stepwise and time iterative numerical analyses, especially when boundary-value problems are imposed. Typically engineering desired boundary value problems involve simulations designed to control energy absorption under complex crash scenarios. In this paper, we demonstrate a new phenomenological framework for thermo-mechanical modeling of multi-phase TRIP steel that captures the evolution of phase transformation. The model was implemented into the user-defined subroutine of the explicit dynamic version of the commercial finite element software LS-DYNA. Simulations were performed on a top-hat crush tube made of an industrial multiphase TRIP 800 steel. The results were utilized within an optimization simulation framework to pinpoint composition windows, which maximize the energy absorption capacity. When not concerned about peak crush force, larger compositions of austenite (typically ∼70%) will outperform all other compositions. However, lowering the austenite volume fraction with higher volume fractions of bainite (∼80%) with balanced ferrite could produce a top-hat crush rail with a superior crush force and efficiency compared to TRIP 800 steel without increasing the peak crush force.

The effects of pre-straining conditions on fatigue behavior of a multiphase TRIP steel

To assess the fatigue properties of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels with various strain histories, a multiphase TRIP780 steel (0.2C–1.7Mn–1.7Si–0.04Al in wt pct) containing 17.3vol pct initial retained austenite was studied. Specimens were pre-strained to 0%, 5%, or 15% in uniaxial tension at room temperature, −20, or 80°C, then subjected to fully-reversed room-temperature fatigue cycling at total strain amplitudes of 0.2–0.6%. The low-cycle fatigue (LCF) life of the TRIP780 steel was relatively independent of prior strain history with respect to the applied strain amplitude. However, the large loss in ductility due to pre-straining to 15% resulted in a decrease in LCF life with respect to the applied plastic strain amplitude. Decreasing the pre-strain temperature (in the range of 80 to −20°C) increased martensite content but did not significantly reduce fatigue life. The amount of austenite formed during fatigue was comparable or slightly larger than the amount formed at equivalent strains in tension.

Phase constitution effect on the ductility of low alloy multiphase transformation induced plasticity steels

The effect of phase constitution on the ductility of a low-alloy transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-assisted steel was studied. The processing parameters were selected in such a way to obtain microstructures with systematically different volume fractions of ferrite, bainitic ferrite, martensite, and retained austenite, while keeping the grain size of ferrite and morphology of bainitic ferrite almost the same among various cases. Uniaxial tensile testing was performed at room temperature to examine the strength and ductility for each microstructure. It was observed that the ratio of carbon content to volume fraction of retained austenite is a better indicator of uniform strain than only carbon content or volume fraction. Regardless, martensite was found to be the main factor controlling the ductility. An almost linear relationship between tensile ductility and the volume fraction of martensite was observed up to 40% of martensite. The results also suggested that maximizing ferrite is a more direct design strategy for good ductility since increasing ferrite content reduces martensite volume fraction.

Improvement of the Hydrogen Microprint Technique on AHSS Steels

Preferential hydrogen diffusion paths in low-carbon ferritic steel and transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel characteristic of new advanced high strength sheet steels (AHSS) were evaluated via the hydrogen microprint technique (HMT). As a consequence of hydrogen diffusion and evolution from the sample after charging, the technique involves reduction of AgBr emulsion applied to the surface of a charged sample to produce discrete Ag grains which identify, via scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, locations where hydrogen evolved. Enhancements to the results are revealed through a newly developed image-before-etch HMT method, consisting of SEM imaging before and then again after etching. The modified technique was implemented to facilitate direct comparison of silver grains with the features of an etched multi-phase TRIP steel microstructure. Results from SEM imaging demonstrated the effectiveness of the image-before-etch method to avoid artifacts and to positively identify hydrogen evolution sites in AHSS TRIP steel microstructures.

Modelling of damage and failure in multiphase high strength DP and TRIP steels

Abstract Multiphase high strength steels such as dual phase (DP) and Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels show excellent strength and formability due to the coexistence of harder and softer phases in their microstructures. The damage mechanism and failure behaviour of these steels are very complex and strongly affected by microstructural constituents. In experiments, two failure modes-cleavage and dimple fracturing-were observed simultaneously at the microscale. The void nucleation was caused by the de-bonding of martensite from ferritic matrix or martensite cracking. The crack initiation and the contribution of each fracture mode depended on the stress state or triaxiality, the purity degree, the volume fraction of retained austenite, the carbon content of retained austenite and martensite, and the locations of the neighbouring austenite grain and martensitic islands. To describe the effects of the multiphase microstructure, representative volume elements (RVE) were used within the framework of continuum mechanics. The partitioning of carbon in microstructure was taken into account for the flow curve description of each individual phase. The Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman (GTN) damage model was applied to the RVE simulations to describe the ductile damage occurring mostly in the softer ferritic phase. Additionally, a cohesive zone model (CZM) was used to represent a cracking mechanism as the de-bonding of interfaces. The failure prediction was verified with different sheet forming experiments. The effects of amount and strength of martensite in a DP microstructure were also numerically investigated.

Static and Impact-Dynamic Characterization of Multiphase TRIP Steels

In this study, results are presented of an extensive experimental program to investigate the strain rate dependent mechanical properties of various Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel grades. A split Hopkinson tensile bar setup was used for the high strain rate experiments and microstructural observation techniques such as LOM, SEM and EBSD revealed the mechanisms governing the observed behavior. With elevated testing temperatures and interrupted tensile experiments the material behavior and the austenite to martensite transformation is investigated. In dynamic conditions, the strain rate has limited influence on the material properties. Yet an important increase is noticed when comparing static to dynamic conditions. The differences in strength, elongation and energy absorption levels observed between the investigated materials can be attributed to their chemical composition. Adiabatic heating during high strain rate deformation tends to slow down the strain induced martensitic deformation. The elongation of the ferritic and austenite constituents is found to be strain rate dependent and the strain induced martensitic transformation occurs gradually in the material.

Temperature Development during Step-Wise Tensile Tests on a TRIP Steel

Temperature development during plastic deformation affects the stability of retained austenite and thus the mechanical properties in transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. In this work, we used a thermo-camera to monitor the temperature development during a step-wise tensile test of an Al-containing multiphase TRIP steel. The tensile tests were performed by loading the specimen at six straining rates ranging from 5 to 30 s-1 to a stress of 700 MPa and then holding for 15 min, followed by further loading at 50 s-1 until fracture. It is found that temperature increases about 13 – 18 °C during the first loading process and drops back to room temperature with a time-constant of around 2 min. The increment of temperature increases with increasing straining rate. The temperature increases around 30 °C during the second loading process. The distribution of temperature over the specimen surface is found to be rather homogeneous along the longitudinal direction in most cases, except for the ending points of two loading processes. The measurement of temperature development is found to be consistent with previous numerical simulation on the temperature development under constant stress in TRIP steels.

Simulation of mechanical behavior of multiphase TRIP steel taking account of transformation-induced plasticity

Due to the effect of transformation-induced plasticity, multiphase low alloy TRIP steel exhibits an enhanced combination of strength and ductility. Moreover, volume fractions of the constituents in TRIP steel vary during its plastic deformation. In this paper, a constitutive model for mechanical behavior of multiphase TRIP steel is presented. In the model, TRIP steel microstructure is decomposed into four individual constituents: austenite, martensite, bainitic ferrite and ferrite. Mechanical behavior of each individual phase is described by using physically-based model. On the basis of introducing transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) strain into decomposition of total strain, stress–strain relation of multiphase composite is obtained by using mixture rule and Iso-W hypothesis. Kinetics of strain-induced martensitic transformation is described by a generalized form of Olson–Cohen model, which takes into account temperature and stress state. Moreover, a new method to describe evolving grain size of retained austenite due to martensitic transformation is developed. On the basis of presented model, mechanical behavior of multiphase steel is simulated by using finite element method. Parameters of the model are calibrated for different mixture laws used in calculation. The simulated results have a good agreement with those observed in experiments.

Investigation of the mechanical behaviour of multi-phase TRIP steels using finite element methods

In recent years, the development of high-strength steels such as multi-phase TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity)-aided steels have shown great promise due to their excellent combination of high strength and ductility, which allows for the use of thinner car frame components and subsequently weight reduction. The TRIP effect, characterized by the phenomenon known as strain-induced martensitic transformation (SIMT), enhances the work hardenability of such steels as the austenite phase transforms to the much harder martensite phase during plastic straining. However, various factors exist which affect the mechanical behaviour of TRIP steels. This study will aim, through the use of finite element models, to investigate the role and influence of each of these factors on the TRIP effect in multi-phase TRIP steels. These factors include the rate at which the martensitic transformation proceeds, the state of stress to which the material is subjected to and the interaction between the surrounding matrix and embedded retained austenite islands in multi-phase TRIP steels. Investigation of these factors will provide further insight on each of their contributions to the TRIP effect in order to exploit the potential benefits offered by these steels.

The effect of silicon, aluminium and phosphor on the dynamic behavior and phenomenological modelling of multiphase TRIP steels

Multiphase TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels combine excellent ductility and high strength, making them ideally suited for shock absorbing parts in the automotive industry. When designing structures for impact, an understanding of the mechanical properties of materials under high strain rate conditions is essential. An extensive experimental program using a split Hopkinson tensile bar set-up was established in an effort to investigate the dynamic properties of various TRIP steel grades. Four different TRIP steels are described with varying contents of the alloying elements silicon, aluminium and phosphor. Moreover, several phenomenological models describing the strain rate and temperature-dependent mechanical behaviour are validated. TRIP steel grades in which aluminium is the main alloying element show high elongation values, whereas a high silicon content results in an increase in strength. The widely used Johnson-Cook model can describe the behaviour of TRIP steels and provides the opportunity to study its material and structural response.

Constitutive equations for multiphase TRIP steels at high rates of strain

Multiphase TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels show an excellent combination of high strength and high strain values, making them ideally suited for use in vehicle body structures. A complex synergy of three different phases (ferrite, bainite and austenite) on the one hand, and the metastable character of the austenite on the other hand, give the material indeed a high energy absorption potential. The knowledge and understanding of the dynamic behaviour of these sheet steels is essential to investigate the impact-dynamic characteristics of the structures. Therefore split Hopkinson tensile tests are performed in a strain rate range of 500 to 2000 s -1 . Three TRIP steel grades with a different Al and Si content were studied. The experimental results show that these steels preserve their excellent shock-absorbing properties in dynamic conditions. The typical high strain rate loading conditions and the complex behaviour of TRIP steels offer a unique investigation opportunity. This behaviour can be described with phenomenological material models that can be used for numerical simulations of car crashes. The Johnson-Cook model, a frequently used model in finite element codes, is well-suited to describe the dynamic behaviour of the investigated TRIP steels. This model is compared to the Rusinek-Klepaczko model.

Thermal and Mechanical Stability of Retained Austenite in Aluminum-containing Multiphase TRIP Steels.

Stability of retained austenite is the key issue to understand transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect. In this work, both thermal stability and mechanical stability are investigated by thermo-magnetic as well as in situ conventional X-ray diffraction and micro synchrotron radiation diffraction measurements. The thermal stability in a 0.20C-1.52Mn-0.25Si-0.96Al (wt%) TRIP steel is studied in the temperature range between 5 and 300 K under a constant magnetic field of 5T. It is found that almost all austenite transforms thermally to martensite upon cooling to 5 K and M S and M f temperatures are analyzed to be 355 and 115 K. Transformation kinetics on the fraction versus temperature relation are well described by a model based on thermodynamics. From the in situ conventional X-ray and synchrotron diffraction measurements in a 0.17C-1.46Mn-0.26Si-1.81Al (wt%) steel, the volume fraction of retained austenite is found to decrease as the strain increases according to Ludwigson and Berger relation. The diffraction measurements also show that the mechanical stability depends on the orientation of the grain with respect to the direction of the applied stress, and the austenite grains at an angle of 45° or 60° were found to be more stable than those at lower or higher angles. Both thermal and diffraction experiments show an increase in the average carbon concentration of the remaining austenite with lowering temperature or increasing stress. Thermal and mechanical stability of retained austenite is therefore attributed to the carbon distribution over different austenite grains.