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Dislocation-grain boundary interactions in martensitic steel observed through in situ nanoindentation in a transmission electron microscope

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Abstract

Dislocation-interface interactions in Fe-0.4 wt% C tempered martensitic steel were studied through in situ nanoindentation in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Two types of boundaries were imaged in the dislocated martensitic structure: a low-angle (probable) lath boundary and a coherent, high-angle (probable) block boundary. In the case of a low-angle grain boundary, the dislocations induced by the indenter piled up against the boundary. As the indenter penetrated further, a critical stress appeared to have been reached, and a high density of dislocations was suddenly emitted on the far side of the grain boundary into the adjacent grain. In the case of the high-angle grain boundary, the numerous dislocations that were produced by the indentation were simply absorbed into the boundary, with no indication of pileup or the transmission of strain. This surprising observation is interpreted on the basis of the crystallography of the block boundary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Steel Research Center, National Institute for Materials Science, Ibaraki, 304-0047, Japan

    T. Ohmura

  2. National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    A. M. Minor

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    J. W. Morris Jr.

  4. Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    E. A. Stach

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  1. T. Ohmura
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  2. A. M. Minor
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  3. E. A. Stach
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  4. J. W. Morris Jr.
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Ohmura, T., Minor, A.M., Stach, E.A. et al. Dislocation-grain boundary interactions in martensitic steel observed through in situ nanoindentation in a transmission electron microscope. Journal of Materials Research 19, 3626–3632 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2004.0474

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2004.0474

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