Influence of Stress on Kinetics and Transformation Plasticity of Ferrite Transformation Based on Hysteresis Effects

Transformation plasticity and kinetics play an essential role in the prediction of residual stresses resulting from transformation. This paper is devoted to the investigation of the influence of stress on the kinetics and transformation plasticity of ferrite for H420LA steel. It has been shown that under small external stresses, lower than the yield stress of the weaker phase, the ferrite transformation is inhibited at the beginning of the transformation in the continuous cooling process and the mechanical stabilization of austenite is observed, due to transformation hysteresis effects. This phenomenon affects the metallurgical and mechanical behaviors of the transformation progress. However, most existing models ignore these effects, leading to deviations in the description of transformation plasticity during the transformation progress. Considering the hysteresis effects, the micromechanical model for kinetics and transformation plasticity is reexamined. A general formulation of austenite decomposition kinetics accounting for these effects is developed to better describe the phase transformation under a continuous cooling process. In addition, the influence of hysteresis effects on the evolution of transformation plasticity is analyzed. Consideration of the hysteresis effects decreases the discrepancy between the calculated and experimental values. This will allow better prediction of residual stresses in the thermomechanically controlled processes.