N. Haghdadi

The austenite microstructure evolution in a duplex stainless steel subjected to hot deformation

Abstract The austenite microstructure evolution and softening processes have been studied in a 23Cr–6Ni–3Mo duplex stainless steel, comprising equal fractions of austenite and ferrite, deformed in uniaxial compression at 1000 °C using strain rates of 0.1 and 10 s−1. The texture and microstructure evolution within austenite was similar in character for both the strain rate used. The observed large-scale subdivision of austenite grains/islands into complex-shaped deformation bands, typically separated by relatively wide transition regions, has been attributed to the complex strain fields within this phase. Organised, self-screening microband arrays were locally present within austenite and displayed a crystallographic character for a wide range of austenite orientations. The microband boundaries were aligned with the traces of {1u20091u20091} slip planes containing slip systems having high, although not necessarily the highest possible, Schmid factors. The slightly lower mean intercept length and higher mean misorientation obtained for the sub-boundaries at the higher strain rate can be ascribed to the expected more restricted dynamic recovery processes compared to the low strain rate case. Dynamic recrystallisation within austenite was extremely limited and mainly occurred via the strain-induced migration of the distorted original twin boundaries, followed by the formation of multiple twinning chains.

Dynamic restoration processes in a 23Cr-6Ni-3Mo duplex stainless steel: effect of austenite morphology and interface characteristics

The austenite and ferrite microstructure evolution and restoration mechanisms were studied during hot uniaxial compression of a 23Cr-6Ni-3Mo duplex stainless steel with two markedly different austenite morphologies (i.e., equiaxed and Widmanstätten). The deformation was performed at a temperature of 1273xa0K (1000xa0°C) at a strain rate of 0.1xa0s−1. The strain was preferentially partitioned in ferrite for both the microstructures studied. Both austenite morphologies displayed frequent splitting into complex-shaped deformation bands, containing dislocation cells and local stacking faults. Equiaxed austenite was favorable to the local development of microbands (MBs), while its Widmanstätten counterpart appeared to be completely resistant to their formation. This was attributed to the complexity of deformation inside the irregularly shaped Widmanstätten plates precluding the formation of self-screening MB arrays. The MB boundaries were typically aligned along highly stressed slip planes. The presence of discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) within both the austenite morphologies was very limited. A slightly higher fraction of DDRX was detected in Widmanstätten austenite, compared to equiaxed austenite, which was ascribed to its higher contribution to the overall deformation and lower fraction of low-mobility coherent twin boundaries. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) was the main restoration mechanism within ferrite for both the microstructure types studied. The CDRX development within ferrite was accelerated in the microstructure with equiaxed austenite. This was related to the comparatively lower fraction of coherent interphases in this microstructure, which would hinder the slip transmission across the interphase and make the strain concentrate within ferrite.

Five-parameter crystallographic characteristics of the interfaces formed during ferrite to austenite transformation in a duplex stainless steel

Abstract The crystallography of interfaces in a duplex stainless steel having an equiaxed microstructure produced through the ferrite to austenite diffusive phase transformation has been studied. The five-parameter interface character distribution revealed a high anisotropy in habit planes for the austenite–ferrite and austenite–austenite interfaces for different lattice misorientations. The austenite and ferrite habit planes largely terminated on (1 1 1) and (1 1 0) planes, respectively, for the austenite–ferrite interfaces associated with Kurdjumov–Sachs (K–S) and Nishiyama–Wasserman (N–W) orientation relationships. This was mostly attributed to the crystallographic preference associated with the phase transformation. For the austenite–ferrite interfaces with orientation relationships which are neither K–S nor N–W, both austenite and ferrite habit planes had (1 1 1) orientations. Σ3 twin boundaries comprised the majority of austenite–austenite interfaces, mostly showing a pure twist character and terminating on (1 1 1) planes due to the minimum energy configuration. The second highest populated austenite–austenite boundary was Σ9, which tended to have grain boundary planes in the tilt zone due to the geometrical constraints. Furthermore, the intervariant crystallographic plane distribution associated with the K–S orientation relationship displayed a general tendency for the austenite habit planes to terminate with the (1 1 1) orientation, mainly due to the crystallographic preference associated with the phase transformation.