Micromechanical model of the high temperature cyclic behavior of 9-12%Cr martensitic steels

9-12%Cr quenched and tempered martensitic steels are known to soften under cyclic loadings at high temperature. The present article proposes a model based on physical mechanisms described at the scale of slip systems. This model describes explicitly the microstructural recovery (corresponding to a decrease of the dislocation density and sub-grain coarsening) observed experimentally. The scale transition is carried out in the framework of self-consistent homogenization schemes. The model assumptions and its physical basis are explicitly discussed. The parameters are identified on a very limited amount of experimental data. The model turns out to give very good predictions and extrapolations for the cyclic softening effect observed in uniaxial tension-compression loadings for strain ranges larger than 0.3%. Stress-relaxation and creep behavior can also be simulated for high stresses. In addition the cyclic softening effect is reproduced for multiaxial tension-torsion loadings. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.