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Linkage between mechanical properties and phase transformations in austenitic stainless steels. Ph.D. candidate David Marechal. Scientific Supervision Chad Sinclair (UBC) Industrial support Jean-Denis Mithieux (Ugine&ALZ) Valerie Kostoj ( Ugine&ALZ).
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Linkage between mechanical properties and phase transformations in austenitic stainless steels Ph.D. candidate David Marechal Scientific Supervision Chad Sinclair (UBC) Industrial support Jean-Denis Mithieux (Ugine&ALZ) Valerie Kostoj (Ugine&ALZ)
ContextAustenitic Stainless Steels for structural applications reduce weight of cars and improve crashworthiness high mechanical strength and excellent formability
Context • Constitutional laws needed for forming. • These are not well identified for austenitic stainless steels • Partially due to the strain-induced g -> a’ transformation that occurs during forming. • Coupling between plasticity and phase transformation.
Deformation mechanisms in austenite Plates of e martensite (hcp) Rousseau et al., 1970 g -> e ->a’ g -> a’ Nuclei of a’ martensite (bct) Spencer, Ph.D. thesis, McMaster University, 2004
Questions • Scale of microstructure • Mode of deformation ? • Kinetics • Nucleation • Growth • Mechanical properties
Influence of grain size FE-C-Cr-Ni-Mn deformed at 298K Jin et al., 2007 AISI 304 at -50°C, measured by XRD De et al., 2006 AISI 304 at 298K, measured by Ferritescope Varma et al., 1994 • In general, kinetics is accelerated for coarse grains. • However, lack of experiments below 50mm. • What happens for submicron grains ?
Influence of mode of deformation • Two components : • strain path • stress state • g -> a’ transformation accompanied by volume expansion. • High triaxiality favours formation of a’ martensite. (Stringfellow et al., 1991) • Tension assists g -> a’ transformation more than compression. • Shear components also important.
Influence of mode of deformation AISI 304 deformed at 77 K Lebedev et al., 2000. AISI 304 deformed at 298 K Iwamoto et al., 1998. • Limited amount of data. Does not allow full understanding. • Stringfellow theory based on hydrostatic component. • However, there are cases where a’ dominates in compression.
Summary • g -> a’ transformation contributes to increased W-H in austenitic stainless steels. • Nucleation of a’ motivated by intersection of e plates. • Lack of data for the growth of a’. • Besides temperature and strain rate, transformation affected by: • grain size • strain path • stress state
Material studied • Grade AISI 301LN, sheet samples • Low C, low Ni and high N reinforce low stability of austenite and low SFE. • High levels of a’ (up to 70%) formed upon Room Temperature straining. • Because of low C, a’ has a nearly bcc-structure.
Generation of grain size Annealing 750 to 1050°С 3 or 30 min Temperature Cryorolling Cooling down in air Time + +
Characterization of a’ content • a’ fraction measured with a Ferritescope. • Good reproductibility. • Non-monotonic trend of the rate of transformation towards grain size
Deformation microstructure1) High-resolution EBSD ND RD Austenite (grey) a’ martensite (colored)
Deformation microstructure2) TEM (110)a’ 1mm 1mm (211)a’
Preliminary ideas for modelling • Need: • 1. Behaviour of austenite • Vocce law from experiment • 2. Behaviour of a’ • Best fit assuming Vocce law • 3. Transformation kinetics • From experiment • 4. Law of mixtures • Equal strain in both phases • stot = f sa’ + (1-f) sg • 5. Need physical understanding: • Why is a’ behaviour independent of austenite grain size ?
Work planned • What is the mechanical behaviour of a’ ? • Neutron diffraction • Need to understand the nucleation / growth of a’ • TEM / EBSD • Effect of strain path / stress state • Extension to other paths of deformation (i.e. pure shear & plane strain tension)
Conclusion • Poor knowledge of kinetics / mechanical response towards : • grain size • mode of deformation • Wide range of grain size has been generated (0.4 to 30mm) • Experiments in uniaxial tension • Preliminary simple model --> encouraging. • Provide physical understanding to problem. • Plan to extend to other deformation modes.