Characterization of the micromechanical behavior of advanced high-strength bainitic steels
This project aims for a detailed description of the micromechanical behavior of bainite in order to expand our understanding of the deformation processes within the complex bainitic microstructure.
The combination of high strength and ductility is vital for industrial products like line pipe or structural steels. Increasingly, such products are made of thermomechanically processed bainitic steels with complex microstructures [1, 2].
The overall aim of this project is to enhance its mechanical properties via an optimization of the microstructure. For this purpose different bainitic microstructures are investigated by nano-indentation and micro-compression tests. The obtained mechanical properties of each microstructural constituent are an essential input parameter for any further microstructure optimization. Subsequently, the relevant parameters to describe the representative behavior of real microstructures can be used as an input for a computational material model to be implemented in the crystal plasticity simulation tool DAMASK [3].
This project is in cooperation and supported by Dillinger [4].
Fig. 1: The complex microstructure of the investigated line pipe steel consists of upper bainite (UB) and granular bainite (GB). The sample was etched by Nital.