TRIP steel retained austenite transformation under cyclic V-bending deformation

To investigate the transformation behavior of TRIP steel retained austenite under cyclic load, cyclic V-bending deformation of low carbon Si-Mn TRIP600 was studied by experiment and finite element in this paper. The results showed that, under cyclic V-bending deformation, retained austenite in TRIP steel transformed into martensite gradually with the increasing of bending times, and for the symmetrical characteristic, upper surface and lower surface presented the same transformation tendency. From the first to the fourth V-bending deformation, retained austenite volume fraction decreased nearly linearly and then attained saturation step by step. Compressive stress state was helpful for martensite transformation than tension stress state with V-bending deformation, and strain magnitude was the determining factor for retaining austenite martensitic transformation. With the increasing of bending times effective stress increased and the relationship between maximum effective stress and bending times was nearly linear. Effective stress and effective strain distribution were non-uniform, the maximum effective stress and effective strain were present in the center of the samples. The relationships between retained austenite and V-bending times, and retained austenite with effective strain were set up as Eqs.(1)–(5). The relationship was typical quadric function, decreased linearly for the initial deformation and attained saturation finally.