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Microstructural Evolution During Deformation of a QP980 Steel

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Abstract

Quench and partitioning steels offer a valuable combination of high strength and ductility. Here we report on microstructural evolution in a QP980 steel during deformation. This is measured using a range of techniques including in-situ tensile tests coupled with scanning electron microscopy, ex-situ interrupted tensile tests coupled with electron back scattered diffraction, and X-ray diffraction measurements. Microstrain partitioning among ferrite, martensite, and retained austenite is quantified using microscopic digital image correlation. The average true strain in ferrite is approximately two and three times that in martensite and blocky retained austenite, respectively, consistent with nanohardness measurements of each phase. The combination of high strength and ductility of this steel is attributed to co-deformation of ferrite and tempered martensite. Some of the retained austenite blocks located at ferrite and martensite interfaces are almost fully transformed to martensite through transformation-induced plasticity, also contributing to ductility. Cracking of large blocky retained austenite in regions with more intense strain localization starts at relatively lower global strains. However, this appears to have little impact on the final failure process. Rather, it is the formation of large cavities in regions with higher martensite volume fraction that provides the primary mechanism of damage and failure.

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Notes

  1. It is important to distinguish here between true ductility, defined as the true strain at fracture and measured using the reduction in cross-sectional area at fracture, from the engineering ductility, defined as percent elongation. These can be quite different. Moreover, the elongation is sensitive to sample dimensions, in particular the gauge length, while the true ductility is not, so long as the sample dimensions are many times the grain size.

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Acknowledgments

The materials used in this study were provided by General Motors R&D Centre, Warren, MI. Partial funding was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, Canada

    Diyar Salehiyan, Javad Samei & David S. Wilkinson

  2. CanmetMATERIALS, Natural Resources Canada, 183 Longwood Road South, Hamilton, ON, L8P 0A5, Canada

    Babak Shalchi Amirkhiz

  3. GM Global Technical Center, Warren, MI, 48093, USA

    Louis G. Hector Jr.

Authors
  1. Diyar Salehiyan
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  2. Javad Samei
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  3. Babak Shalchi Amirkhiz
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  5. David S. Wilkinson
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Correspondence to David S. Wilkinson.

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Manuscript submitted December 5, 2019.

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Salehiyan, D., Samei, J., Amirkhiz, B.S. et al. Microstructural Evolution During Deformation of a QP980 Steel. Metall Mater Trans A 51, 4524–4539 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-020-05882-2

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