Study on the Strain Hardening Behaviors of TWIP/TRIP Steels

Due to the complex coupling of twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP), transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP), and dislocation glide in TWIP/TRIP steels, it is difficult as well as essential to build a comprehensive strain hardening model to describe the interactions between different deformation mechanisms (i.e., deformation twinning, martensitic transformation, and dislocation glide) and the resulted strain hardening behaviors. To address this issue, a micromechanical model is established in this paper to predict the deformation process of TWIP/TRIP steels considering both TWIP and TRIP effects. In the proposed model, the generation of deformation twinning and martensitic transformation is controlled by the stacking fault energy (SFE) of the material. In the thermodynamic calculation of SFE, deformation temperature, chemical compositions, microstrain, and temperature rise during deformation are taken into account. Varied by experimental results, the developed model can predict the stress–strain response and strain hardening behaviors of TWIP/TRIP steels precisely. In addition, the improved strength and enhanced strain hardening in Fe-Mn-C TWIP/TRIP steels due to the increased carbon content is also analyzed, which consists with literature.     

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of High‐Strength Fe‐Mn‐Al‐C Light‐Weight TRIPLEX Steels

High‐strength TRIPLEX light‐weight steels of the generic composition Fe‐xMn‐yAl‐zC contain 18 ‐ 28 % manganese, 9 ‐ 12 % aluminium, and 0.7 ‐ 1.2 % C (in mass %). The microstructure is composed of an austenitic γ‐Fe(Mn, Al, C) solid solution matrix possessing a fine dispersion of nano size κ‐carbides (Fe,Mn)₃ AlC_1‐x and α‐Fe(Al, Mn) ferrite of varying volume fractions. The calculated Gibbs free energy of the phase transformation γ_fcc → ?_hcp amounts to ΔG^γ→? = 1757 J/mol and the stacking fault energy was determined to Γ_SF = 110 mJ/m². This indicates that the austenite is very stable and no strain induced ?‐martensite will be formed. Mechanical twinning is almost inhibited during plastic deformation. The TRIPLEX steels exhibit low density of 6.5 to 7 g/cm³ and superior mechanical properties, such as high strength of 700 to 1100 MPa and total elongations up to 60 % and more. The specific energy absorption achieved at high strain rates of 10³ s^?1 is about 0.43 J/mm³. TEM investigations revealed clearly that homogeneous shear band formation accompanied by dislocation glide occurred in deformed tensile samples. The dominant deformation mechanism of these steels is shear band induced plasticity ‐SIP effect‐ sustained by the uniform arrangement of nano size κ‐carbides coherent to the austenitic matrix. The high flow stresses and tensile strengths are caused by effective solid solution hardening and superimposed dispersion strengthening.     

Partial Inverse Grain Size Dependence of Strength in High Mn Steels Microalloyed With Nb

 Two steels without and with Nb addition were chosen to investigate the effects of Nb on the microstructures and the mechanical properties of Fe-Mn-Al-Si steels. The results revealed that Nb refined the grains markedly and both TRIP and TWIP effects occurred during deformation process. The Nb containing steel possesses higher yield strength and much lower tensile strength, the latter being explained by the suppression of TRIP effect due to the increase of stacking fault energy. This indicates grain refining is secondary for strengthening of steels when TRIP or TWIP effect exists during the deformation of low carbon and high Mn steels.     

Effect of Nitrogen on the Deformation Behaviour of High‐Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steels

The deformation behaviour of high‐nitrogen austenitic steels with the base composition of Fe‐18Cr‐10Mn containing various contents of nitrogen was investigated. Two deformation modes including deformation‐induced martensitic transformation (DIMT) and deformation twinning (DT) were observed depending on the nitrogen content. In the alloys with lower nitrogen contents, γ→?→α' martensitic transformation sequentially occurred, whereas DT acted as a main deformation mode and DIMT was suppressed in the alloys with increasing nitrogen content. Both DIMT and DT showed strong crystallographic orientation dependence. The competing mechanism between them was discussed in terms of the variation of stacking fault energy with nitrogen content.     

Chemistry and Properties of Medium-Mn Two-Stage TRIP Steels

Eight medium manganese steels ranging from 10 to 15 wt pct Mn have been produced with varying levels of aluminum, silicon, and carbon to create steels with varying TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) character. Alloy chemistries were formulated to produce a range of intrinsic stacking fault energies (ISFE) from − 2.2 to 13.3 mJ/m² when calculated at room temperature for an austenitic microstructure having the nominal alloy composition. Two-stage TRIP behavior was documented when the ISFE of the γ-austenite phase was 10.5 mJ/m² or less, whereas an ISFE of 11.9 mJ/m² or greater exhibited TWIP (twin-induced plasticity) with single-stage TRIP to form α-martensite. Properties were measured in both hot band (hot rolled) and batch annealed (hot rolled, cold rolled, and annealed) conditions. Hot band properties were influenced by the Si/Al ratio and this dependence was related to incomplete recovery during hot working for alloys with Si/Al ratios greater than one. Batch annealing was conducted at 873 K (600 °C) for 20 hours to produce ultrafine-grained microstructures with mean free slip distances less than 1 μm. Batch-annealed materials were found to exhibit a Hall–Petch dependence of the yield strength upon the mean free slip distance measured in the polyphase microstructure. Ultimate tensile strengths ranged from 1450 to 1060 MPa with total elongations of 27 to 43 pct. Tensile ductility was shown to be proportional to the sum of the products of volume fraction transformed times the volume change associated for each martensitic transformation. An empirical relationship based upon the nominal chemistry was derived for the ultimate tensile strength and elongation to failure for these batch-annealed steels. Two additional alloys were produced based upon the developed understanding of these two-stage TRIP steels and tensile strengths of 1150 MPa with 58 pct total elongation and 1400 MPa and 32 pct ductility were achieved.

     

高锰合金钢的SME、TRIP、TWIP效应

 由于锰的价格低廉以及在材料中的重要作用而成为钢铁工业常用的合金元素。锰含量高时,可使Fe Mn合金形成的奥氏体在较低温度下存在。加入Si、Al元素可对合金中奥氏体的稳定性产生不同程度的影响,从而使材料在承受外界载荷时呈现出不同的反应。研究表明：Si可降低奥氏体层错能,有利于A→ε M相变,从而使合金易产生形状记忆效应。加大变形量,由于大量的奥氏体转变为α′ M时体积膨胀,在使材料伸长率提高的同时,强度也得到提高(相变诱发塑性效应),因此可用作高性能结构件。Al和Mn是提高奥氏体层错能的合金元素。对于Al、Mn含量高的钢,在外力作用下则可通过孪生诱发塑性变形产生孪晶诱发塑性效应,因而材料在具有较高强度的前提下,还具有60%~80%的伸长率。     

Dynamic Strain Aging Phenomena and Tensile Response of Medium-Mn TRIP Steel

Dynamic strain aging (DSA) and rapid work hardening are typical behaviors observed in medium-Mn transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel. Three alloys with manganese ranging from 10.2 to 13.8 wt pct with calculated room temperature stacking fault energies varying from ? 2.1 to 0.7 mJ/m² were investigated. Significant serrations were observed in the stress-strain behavior for two of the steels and the addition of 4.6 wt pct chromium was effective in significantly reducing the occurrence of DSA. Addition of chromium to the alloy reduced DSA by precipitation of M₂₃(C,N)₆ during batch annealing at 873 K (600 °C) for 20 hours. Three distinct DSA mechanisms were identified: one related to manganese ordering in stacking faults associated with ε-martensite and austenite interface, with activation energies for the onset and termination of DSA being 145 and 277 kJ/mol. A second mechanism was associated with carbon diffusion in γ-austenite where Mn-C bonding added to the total binding energy, and activation energies of 88 and 155 kJ/mol were measured for the onset and termination of DSA. A third mechanism was attributed to dislocation pinning and unpinning by nitrogen in α-ferrite with activation energies of 64 and 123 kJ/mol being identified. Tensile behaviors of the three medium manganese steels were studied in both the hot band and batch annealed after cold working conditions. Ultimate tensile strengths ranged from 1310 to 1404 MPa with total elongation of 24.1 to 34.1 pct. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the transformation response of the steels using interrupted tensile tests at room temperature. All three of the processed steels showed evidence of two-stage TRIP where γ-austenite first transformed to ε-martensite, and subsequently transformed to α-martensite.     

Study on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of High Manganese Steels with TRIP/TWIP Effects

In the present work, advanced high strength and high ductility TRIP/TWIP steels with different manganese concentrations were studied. The microstructures of these steels were evaluated prior to and after deformation and the mechanical properties of these steels were determined. The microstructure analysis indicated that both TRIP and TWIP effects appeared in the steel with lower Mn content, while the TWIP effect was the dominant deformation mechanism in the steel with a higher Mn content, with many deformation twins formed during the deformation. In addition, the forming limit diagrams of these steels were recorded and the results showed an excellent formability.     

Orientation Dependence of Martensitic Transformation in High Mn TRIP/TWIP Steels

Orientation dependence of transformation such as precipitation, allotropic transformation, martensitic transformation, or even twinning and recrystallization prevails strongly during dynamic transformation under deformation. Using mainly EBSD technique, this works reveals this behavior during tension and compression of high manganese TRIP/TWIP steels containing two types of martensites. The results show that this orientation dependence can lead to the differences in transformation kinetics, variant selection, the sizes, and orientations of new grains. These phenomena are ascribed to the influence of Schmid factor and strain accommodation in different deformation conditions.     

Effect of Carbon Fraction on Stacking Fault Energy of Austenitic Stainless Steels

The effect of C fraction (C/N) on stacking fault energy (SFE) of austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn steels with a fixed amount of C?+?N (0.6?wt pct) was investigated by means of neutron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The SFE were evaluated by the Rietveld whole-profile fitting combined with the double-Voigt size-strain analysis for neutron diffraction profiles using neutron diffraction. The measured SFE showed distinguishable difference and were well correlated with the change in deformation microstructure. Three-dimensional linear regression analyses yielded the relation reflecting the contribution of both C?+?N and C/N: SFE (mJ/m²)?=??C5.97?+?39.94(wt pct C?+?N)?+?3.81(C/N). As C fraction increased, the strain-induced ?????? martensitic transformation was suppressed, and deformation twinning became the primary mode of plastic deformation.     

Stress-Assisted and strain-induced martensites in FE-NI-C alloys

A metallographic study was made of the martensite formed during plastic straining of metastable, austenitic Fe-Ni-C alloys withM _s temperatures below 0°C. A comparison was made between this martensite and that formed during the deformation of two TRIP steels. In the Fe-Ni-C alloys two distinctly different types of martensite formed concurrently with plastic deformation. The large differences in morphology, distribution, temperature dependence, and other characteristics indicate that the two martensites form by different transformation mechanisms. The first type, stress-assisted martensite, is simply the same plate martensite that forms spontaneously belowM _s except that it is somewhat finer and less regularly shaped than that formed by a temperature drop alone. This difference is due to the stress-assisted martensite forming from cold-worked austenite. The second type, strain-induced martensite, formed along the slip bands of the austenite as sheaves of fine parallel laths less than 0.5μm wide strung out on the {111}_γ planes of the austenite. Electron diffraction indicated a Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation for the strain-induced martensite relative to the parent austenite. No stress-assisted, plate martensite formed in the TRIP steels; all of the martensite caused by deformation of the TRIP steels appeared identical to the strain-induced martensite of the Fe-Ni-C alloys. It is concluded that the transformation-induced ductility of the TRIP steels is a consequence of the formation of strain-induced martensite. Formerly a graduate student at Stanford University     

Strain Rate Dependent Flow Stress and Energy Absorption Behaviour of Cast CrMnNi TRIP/TWIP Steels

Modern steel developments often use additional deformation mechanisms like the deformation induced martensitic transformation (TRIP‐effect) and mechanical twinning (TWIP‐effect) to enhance elongation and strength. Three high‐alloyed cast CrMnNi‐steels with different austenite stabilities were examined. Dependent on the austenite stability, TRIP‐effect and TWIP‐effect were found. A low austenite stability causes a distinctive formation of deformation induced α'‐martensite and therefore a strong strain hardening. The increase of strain rate leads to an increase in yield strength and flow stress, but also to a counteractive adiabatic heating of the specimen. Dependent on the degree of deformation, low austenite stabilities and high strain rates lead to excellent values in specific energy absorption.     

Dependence of Deformation Twinning on Grain Orientation and Texture Evolution of High Manganese TWIP Steels at Different Deformation Temperatures

 Mechanical properties, microstructure and texture evolution were studied in two tensile-deformed high manganese TWIP steels at different temperatures. Special attention was paid to the effects of deformation temperature and grain orientation on twinning behavior. The results showed that, at -70 ℃ and at room temperature, both twins and hexagonal martensite were found in a lower manganese steel of 26Mn. With deformation temperature rising, twins became less and they disappeared at 500 ℃. Strong <111> texture appeared at 300 ℃, while it weakened at 500 ℃ due to the low strain rate and higher stacking fault energy. EBSD measurement revealed the dependence of deformation twinning on grain orientation at all test temperatures.     

Fe-Mn-Si-Al系和Fe-Mn-C系TWIP钢加工硬化行为

研究了在不同应变量下Fe-Mn-Si-Al系和Fe-Mn-C系孪晶诱导塑性(TWIP)钢的力学性能以及微观组织,分析了TWIP效应在两种不同系列TWIP钢中发挥的作用,阐明了TWIP钢的强化机制.两种系列的TWIP钢都具有高加工硬化能力,但层错能较低的Fe-Mn-C系TWIP钢加工硬化能力更强.两种系列的TWIP钢加工硬化表现为多加工硬化指数行为,这是由多种强化机理在不同阶段起主导作用的结果.微观组织形态与加工硬化强度之间存在着较强的关联性.位错的增殖和形变孪晶的产生对两个系列TWIP钢硬化曲线形态有着明显的影响.在高应变阶段,Fe-Mn-C系TWIP钢大量的第一位向形变孪晶T1和第二位向形变孪晶T2,以及附着在孪晶界旁的高密度位错区域是造成其具有高加工硬化能力的原因,而Fe-Mn-Si-Al系TWIP钢细密的第一位向形变条纹和孪晶片层间的位错是其高加工硬化原因,且其微观组织更为均匀细致.      

Solubility of Nitrogen in High Manganese Steel (HMnS) Melts: Interaction Parameter between Mn and N

Nitrogen solubility in Fe-Mn melts was measured using a N₂ bubbling and sampling method at temperatures from 1823 K to 1923 K (1550 °C to 1650 °C) for manganese content to about 25 mass pct. The effect of temperature on the nitrogen solubility was well described based on the thermodynamic behavior of Fe-Mn system. Furthermore, the interaction parameter between Mn and N was evaluated as a function of temperature. The present results can be used in thermodynamic analyses of the formation of nitride compounds such as AlN or TiN in high manganese steel melts for example, transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) and twin induced plasticity (TWIP) aided steels as well as high Mn-N alloyed stainless steels.     

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Fe-Mn-（Al, Si） TRIP/TWIP Steels

The mechanical properties and microstructure of two low carbon high manganese steels with 23.8% （No. 1） and 33% （No. 2） （mass percent） of manganese were investigated. The results showed that No. 1 steel possesses high strength and high plasticity, and No. 2 steel has a relatively high strength and extraordinary plasticity. The No. 1 steel exhibits both TRIP （transformation induced plasticity） and TWIP （twin induced plasticity） effects during the deformation; while only TWIP effect appeared under the same deformation condition for No. 2 steel. The comparison between the microstructures and mechanical properties of two steels was made, and the strengthening mechanisms were also analyzed.     

Stress Induce Martensitic Transformations in Hydrogen Embrittlement of Austenitic Stainless Steels

In austenitic type stainless steels, hydrogen concentration gradients formed during electrochemical charging and followed by hydrogen loss during aging, at room temperature, surface stresses, and martensitic phases α′-BCC and ε-HCP developed. The basic relationship between the X-ray diffraction peak broadening and the hydrogen gradients, formed during charging and aging at room temperature in such austenitic stainless steels, were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the impact of stresses must be considered in the discussion of phase transformations due to hydrogenation. Austenitic stainless steels based on iron-nickel-chromium, have relatively low stacking fault energy γ_SFE and undergo: quenching to low temperatures, plastic deformation, sensitization heat treatments, high pressure (≥3–5 × 10⁹ Pa) by hydrogen or other gases, electrochemical charging (when the sample is cathode) and when is irradiation by various ions the samples in vacuum. All the above mentioned induce formation of ε and α′ in the face-centered cubic (FCC) austenite γ matrix. The highest stresses cause formation of mainly α′ phase and ε-martensite, and both are involved in plastic deformation processes and promoting crack propagation at the surface. In 310 steel, the crack propagation is based on deformation processes following ε-martensitic formation only. Formations of ε- and α′-martensites were noted along the fracture surfaces and ahead of the crack tip. The cracks propagated through the ε-martensitic plates, which formed along the active slip planes, while α′ phase was always found in the high-stress region on the ends of the ligaments from both sides of the crack surfaces undergoing propagation.     

Application of a Dislocation Density-Based Constitutive Model to Al-Alloyed TWIP Steel

High Mn steels exhibit an exceptional combination of high strength and large ductility owing to their high strain-hardening rate during deformation. The addition of Al is needed to improve the mechanical performance of TWIP steel by means of the control of the stacking fault energy. In this study, a constitutive modeling approach, which can describe the strain-hardening behavior and the effect of Al on the mechanical properties, was used. In order to understand the deformation behavior of Fe18Mn0.6C and Fe18Mn0.6C1.5Al TWIP steels, a comparative study of the microstructural evolution was conducted by means of transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. The microstructure analysis focused on dislocations, stacking faults, and mechanical twins as these are the defects controlling the strain-hardening behavior of TWIP steels. A comparison of the strain-hardening behavior of Fe18Mn0.6C and Fe18Mn0.6C1.5Al TWIP steels was made in terms of a dislocation density-based constitutive model that goes back to the Kubin–Estrin model. The densities of mobile and forest dislocations are coupled in order to account for the interaction between the two dislocation populations during straining. The model was used to estimate the contribution of dynamic strain aging to the flow stress. As deformation twinning occurred only in a subset of the grains, the grain population was subdivided into twinned grains and twin-free grains. Different constitutive equations were used for the two families of grains. The analysis revealed that (i) the grain size and dynamic recovery effects determine the strain-hardening behavior of the twin-free grains, (ii) the deformation twins, which act as effective barriers to dislocation motion, are the predominant elements of the microstructure that governs the strain hardening of the twinned grains, and (iii) the DSA contribution to strain hardening of TWIP steel is only minor.     

Work Hardening Behavior in Steel with Multiple TRIP Mechanisms

Transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) behavior was studied in steel with the composition Fe-0.07C-2.85Si-15.3Mn-2.4Al-0.017N that exhibited two TRIP mechanisms. The initial microstructure consisted of both ε- and α-martensites with 27 pct retained austenite. TRIP behavior in the first 5 pct strain was predominately austenite transforming to ε-martensite (Stage I), but upon saturation of Stage I, the ε-martensite transformed to α-martensite (Stage II). Alloy segregation also affected the TRIP behavior with alloy-rich regions producing TRIP just prior to necking. This behavior was explained by first-principles calculations which revealed that aluminum significantly affected the stacking fault energy in Fe-Mn-Al-C steels by decreasing the unstable stacking fault energy and promoting easy nucleation of ε-martensite. The addition of aluminum also raised the intrinsic stacking fault energy and caused the ε-martensite to be unstable and transform to α-martensite under further deformation. The two-stage TRIP behavior produced a high strain hardening exponent of 1.4 and led to an ultimate tensile strength of 1165 MPa and elongation to failure of 35 pct.