Fady Mamdouh Fawzy Archie

Plastic accommodation at homophase interfaces between nanotwinned and recrystallized grains in an austenitic duplex-microstructured steel

Abstract The plastic co-deformation behavior at the homophase interfaces between the hard nanotwinned grain inclusions and the soft recrystallized matrix grains in a duplex-microstructured AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel is examined through the analysis of long-range orientation gradients within the matrix grains by electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microcopy. Our analysis reveals that the mechanical accommodation of homophase interfaces until a macroscopic strain of 22% is realized within a small area of soft grains (about four grains) adjacent to the homophase interface. The activation of deformation twinning in the first two grain layers results in the occurrence of a ‘hump’ in the orientation gradient profile. We ascribe this effect to the role of deformation twinning on the generation of geometrically necessary dislocations. The smooth profile of the orientation gradient amplitude within the first 10 grain layers indicates a gradual plastic accommodation of the homophase interfaces upon straining. As a consequence, damage nucleation at such interfaces is impeded, resulting in an enhanced ductility of the single phase duplex-microstructured steel.

Damage Initiation in Dual-Phase Steels: Influence of Crystallographic and Morphological Parameters

Typical microstructures of dual-phase (DP) steels consist of hard martensite particles dispersed within a ductile ferritic matrix. These microstructures possess a complex network of grain and interphase boundaries, which, together with the mechanical contrast of their phase composition, control micro-damage initiation mechanisms, induced by deformation. Accordingly, in this study we analyze the influence of individual microstructural features and interfaces on damage nucleation and progression in DP steels with respect to applied tensile strain. Prominent micro-damage mechanisms include cracking of martensite and damage initiation at interphase boundaries. Influence of martensite morphology is discussed based on a statistical analysis of the damage features as observed by electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) maps. Prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGbs) in martensite show a brittle behavior and are highly susceptible to crack propagation.