Au cours de processus thermomécaniques engendrant une transformation de phase dans les aciers, une déformation plastique importante peut se produire sous l’effet d’une contrainte appliquée, même si celle-ci est plus faible que la limite d’élasticité de la phase la plus molle. Ce phénomène s’appelle plasticité de transformation ou TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP), et peut jouer un rôle important sur le contrôle des procédés de transformation industriels. Par exemple, au cours du refroidissement par trempe de produits semi-finis ou finis (plaques, tôles, roues, ...), ce phénomène peut affecter la planéité des produits plats et engendrer des contraintes résiduelles qui vont affecter la qualité finale de produits finis. Il s’avère donc important de prévoir cette plasticité de transformation induite par un chargement thermomécanique donné. Dans cette thèse, un modèle micromécanique de plasticité cristalline avec transformation de phase a été développé. Il s’appuie sur l’utilisation de la transformée de Fourier rapide (TFR) développée pour des milieux périodiques. L’expansion volumique induite par une transformation de phase de type diffusive (« Greewood-Johnson effet ») est prise en compte dans le modèle afin d’estimer la plasticité de transformation et le comportement mécanique pendant la transformation de phase. Les résultats obtenus par TFR ont confirmé l’existence d’une relation linéaire entre contrainte appliquée et déformation plastique induite par la transformation, lorsque la contrainte appliquée faible (c’est-à-dire inférieure à la moitié de la limite d’élasticité de la phase la plus molle). Lorsque la contrainte appliquée est plus élevée, le modèle prévoit que cette relation linéaire n’est plus valable, même si la déformation plastique de transformation augmente toujours avec la contrainte ; ceci est bon accord avec des observations expérimentales. L’interaction entre paramètres microstructuraux (tels que texture, morphologie et taille de grains, ...) et mécaniques (contrainte de rappel, sensibilité à la vitesse de déformation, ...) a été analysée. Il a été montré que tous ces paramètres doivent être pris en compte dans l’estimation de la plasticité de transformation. L’effet de l’écrouissage cinématique de la phase mère sur l’anisotropie de déformation induite a égalament été discuté. Par ailleurs, les résultats numériques obtenus par TFR ont été comparés à des résultats issus de modèles analytiques existants et à des mesures expérimentales. Compte tenu du bon accord entre résultats numériques et expérimentaux, les résultats obtenus par TFR ont servi référence pour améliorer les modèles analytiques existants ; ces nouveaux modèles simplifiés s’avèrent plus précis que ceux proposés auparavant. / During phase transformation in steels, when stress is applied, significant large strain can be observed even though the applied stress is much smaller than the yield stress of the softest phase. The phenomenon is called Transformation Plasticity or TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP). Transformation plasticity is known to play an important role during steel producing processes. For example, during quenching process of plates, sheets, wheels and gear products, the phenomenon affects their shape and residual stresses which determines the quality of products. In this PhD thesis, a micromechanical model of crystal plasticity with phase transformation is developed. It takes advantage of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) numerical scheme for periodic media. Volume expansion along with phase transformation (Greenwood-Johnson effect) is taken into account in the model in order to evaluate the transformation plasticity and mechanical behaviour during phase transformation. The FFT results confirm linear relation between applied stress and transformation plastic strain, if the applied stress does not exceed a half the value of yield stress of the parent phase. For relatively large applied stresses, transformation plastic strain increases nonlinearly with respect to the applied stress. These results agree well with experimental ones. The metallurgical and mechanical interactions during phase transformation are also analysed, such as texture, grain morphology, grain size, back stress effect and viscoplastic deformation effect. It is shown that they cannot be neglected for estimating transformation plasticity. Among others, the role of kinematic hardening of the parent phase on the resulting strain anisotropy is discussed. Finally, the FFT numerical results have been compared with existing analytical models as well as experimental results. Moreover, these FFT computations have been used as references to develop new approximate analytical models. They are shown to improve on previous proposals. These new models were confirmed that they estimate well the transformation plasticity than other analytical models which have been treated in this PhD thesis.

Transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels have excellent strength, ductility and work hardening behaviour, which can be attributed to a phenomenon known as the TRIP effect. The TRIP effect involves a metastable phase, retained austenite (RA), transforming into martensite as a result of applied stress or strain. This transformation absorbs energy and improves the work hardening rate of the steel, delaying the onset of necking. This work describes two distinct TRIP steel microstructures and focuses on how microstructure affects the RA-to-martensite transformation and the uniaxial tensile behaviour. A two-step heat treatment was applied to an aluminum-alloyed TRIP steel to obtain a microstructure consisting of equiaxed grains of ferrite surrounded by bainite, martensite and RA -- the equiaxed microstructure. The second microstructure was produced by first austenitizing and quenching the steel to produce martensite, followed by the two-step heat treatment. The resulting microstructure (labelled the lamellar microstructure) consisted of elongated grains of ferrite with bainite, martensite and RA grains. Both microstructural variants had similar initial volume fractions of RA. A series of interrupted tensile tests and ex-situ magnetic measurements were conducted to examine the RA transformation during uniform elongation. Similar tests were also conducted on an equiaxed microstructure and a lamellar microstructure with similar ultimate tensile strengths. Results show that the work hardening rate is directly related to the RA transformation rate. The slower transformation rate, or higher RA stability, that was observed in the lamellar microstructure enables sustained work hardening at high strains. In contrast, the equiaxed microstructure has a lower RA stability and thus exhibits high values of work hardening at low strains, but the effect is quickly exhausted. Several microstructural factors that affect RA stability were examined, including RA grain size, aspect ratio, carbon content and spatial distribution of the phases. Two of these factors were characteristic of only the lamellar microstructures and led to higher RA stabilities: elongated RA grains and RA grains being primarily surrounded by bainite. The results were also compared with previous work on a silicon-alloyed TRIP steel to show that the aluminum-alloyed compositions could achieve similar, if not better, combinations of strength and ductility. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-24 16:52:28.032

Formable Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) have a unique combination of strength and ductility, making them ideal in the effort to lightweight vehicles. The AHSS in this study, Quenched and Partitioned 1180, rely on the Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) effect, in which retained austenite (RA) grains transform to martensite during plastic deformation, providing extra ductility via the transformation event. Understanding the factors involved in RA transformation, such as local strain and grain attributes, is therefore key to optimizing the microstructure of these steels. This research seeks to increase understanding of those attributes and the correlations between microstructure and RA transformation in TRIP steels. To measure local strain, the viability of using forescatter detector (FSD) images as the basis for DIC study is investigated. Standard FSD techniques, along with an integrated EBSD / FSD approach (Pattern Region of Interest Analysis System), are both analyzed. Simultaneous strain and microstructure maps are obtained for tensile deformation up to around 6% strain. The method does not give sub-grain resolution, and surface feature evolution prevents DIC analysis across large strain steps; however, the data is easy to obtain and provides a natural set of complementary information for the EBSD analysis. In-situ tensile tests combined with EBSD allow RA grain and neighboring attributes to be characterized and corresponding transformation data to be obtained. However, pseudo-symmetry of the ferrite (BCC) and martensite (BCT) phases prevents EBSD from accurately identifying all phases. Measuring the relative distortion of the crystal lattice, tetragonality, is one approach to identifying the phases. Unfortunately, small errors in the pattern center can cause significant errors in tetragonality measurement. Therefore, this research utilizes a new approach for accurate pattern center determination using a strain minimization routine and applies it to tetragonality maps for phase identification. Tetragonality maps based on dynamically simulated patterns result in the most accurate maps and can also be used to predict approximate local carbon content. Machine learning is then used on the collected data to isolate key attributes of RA grains and provide a decision tree model to predict transformation based on those attributes. Among the most relevant attributes found, RA grain area, RA grain shape aspect ratio, a “hardness” factor, and major axis orientation are included. Possible correlations between these factors and transformation improve understanding of relevant attributes and show the advantage that machine learning can have in unravelling complex material behavior.

Lors d’un recuit inter-critique d’un acier dit « Medium Manganèse », dont la teneur en Mn est située entre 4 et 12 %, avec une microstructure initiale complètement martensitique, la formation de l’austénite obéit à un mécanisme spécifique qui porte le nom d'ART - « Austenite Reverted Transformation » (transformation inverse de l’austénite). L’objectif de ce travail de thèse était d’étudier et de modéliser les évolutions microstructurales en lien avec les propriétés mécaniques lors d’un recuit ART. Il a été déterminé que la microstructure finale se compose de phases de nature (ferrite, austénite résiduelle et martensite de trempe) et morphologie (en forme d’aiguille et polygonale) différentes. Une attention particulière a été accordée aux cinétiques de dissolution des carbures et de formation de l’austénite. Une vision complète de ces processus a été construite. En outre, le mécanisme de stabilisation de l’austénite résiduelle à la température ambiante a été étudié et discuté. Enfin, des essais de traction ont été réalisés afin d’évaluer le comportement mécanique de l’acier après différents recuits ART et établir le lien avec la microstructure. Une analyse plus détaillée du comportement de chaque constituant de la microstructure a été effectuée. A l'issue de cette thèse, un modèle complet est disponible pour calculer les courbes de contrainte vraie - déformation vraie d’un acier Medium Mn / During the intercritical annealing of fully martensitic Medium Mn steel, containing from 4 to 12 wt.% Mn, the formation of austenite happens through the so-called “Austenite Reverted Transformation” (ART) mechanism. In this PhD work, the evolution of both microstructure and tensile properties was studied as a function of holding time in the intercritical domain. The microstructure evolution was studied using a double experimental and modeling approach. The final microstructure contained phases of different natures (ferrite (annealed martensite), retained austenite and fresh martensite) and of different morphologies (lath-like and polygonal). A particular attention was paid to the kinetics of austenite formation in connection with cementite dissolution and to the morphology of the phases. A mechanism was proposed to describe the formation of such microstructure. The critical factors controlling thermal austenite stability, including both chemical and size effects, were determined and discussed, based on the analysis of the retained austenite time-evolution. At last, tensile properties of the steel were measured as a function of holding time and the relation between microstructure and mechanical behavior was analyzed. Advanced analysis of the individual behavior of the three major constituents was performed. As a final output of this work, a complete model for predicting the true-stress versus true-strain curves of medium Mn steels was proposed

Cette thèse caractérise un acier Moyen Mn à 0.2C-5Mn-2.5Al qui montre un écrouissage très fort au cours de la déformation plastique dû à l’effet TRIP. Pendant TRIP, l’austénite résiduelle paramagnétique se transforme en martensite ferromagnétique sous déformation plastique, ce qui conduit à un fort écrouissage. Le taux de cet écrouissage dépend des paramètres de fabrication et surtout la température de recuit intercritique. Ces aciers ont aussi des fois le tendance de se déformer de façon hétérogène par des bandes de Lüders ou PLC.Dans cette thèse, une méthode de caractérisation de la cinétique de transformation de phase est développée sur la base des mesures de l’aimantation saturée de l’acier. La méthode magnétique est unique dans son implémentation in-situ sans aucun effet sur l’essai de traction. Une correction pour les effets de la contrainte appliquée sur l’aimantation est aussi introduite pour la première fois avec une base physique. Les résultats des mesures magnétiques ont été comparés contre des caractérisations des bandes de déformation pour montrer que la transformation de phase coïncide avec le passage des bandes de déformation. La sensibilité à la vitesse de déformation est analysée et une caractérisation de la présence et type de bande PLC est présentée en fonction de la cinétique de transformation de phase. / This thesis studies the mechanical behavior of a 0.2C-5Mn-2.5Al Medium Mn steel that exhibits a very high degree of work hardening due to transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) during plastic deformation. During TRIP, paramagnetic retained austenite is transformed to ferromagnetic martensite with the application of plastic strain and generates a significant amount of work hardening. The rate of work hardening is seen to vary greatly depending on processing parameters—notably the intercritical annealing temperature. These steels also often deform heterogeneously through the propagation of Lüders or PLC strain bands.This research develops a method to characterize the kinetics of the TRIP effect through measurements of the samples magnetic properties. The method is novel in that it is performed in-situ with no effect on the tensile test and is able to correct for the effects of the applied stress on the magnetic properties. The results of these experiments were compared to characterizations of the strain bands to demonstrate that TRIP coincides with the passage of a Lüders or PLC band. The strain rate sensitivity of the steels is analyzed and the presence and type of PLC bands are characterized with respect to the transformation kinetics.

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