Crystal plasticity modeling of transformation plasticity and adiabatic heating effects of metastable austenitic stainless steels

Strain induced phase transformation in metastable 301LN stainless steel generates a heterogeneous multiphase microstructure with a capability to achieve excellent strain hardening. The microstructural deformation mechanisms, prior deformation history and their dependency on strain rate and temperature determine much of the desired dynamically evolving strength of the material. To analyze microscale deformation of the material and obtain suitable computational tools to aid material development, this work formulates a crystal plasticity model involving a phase transformation mechanism together with dislocation slip in parent austenite and child martensite. The model is used to investigate microstructural deformation with computational polycrystalline aggregates. In this context, material’s strain hardening and phase transformation characteristics are analyzed in a range of quasi-static and dynamic strain rates. Adiabatic heating effects are accounted for in the model framework to elucidate the role of grain level heating under the assumption of fully adiabatic conditions. The model’s temperature dependency is analyzed. The modeling results show good agreement with experimental findings.