Fatigue Hardening Behavior of 1.5 GPa Grade Transformation-Induced Plasticity-Aided Martensitic Steel

Low cycle fatigue hardening/softening behavior of a 0.2 pct C-1.5 pct Si-1.5 pct Mn-1.0 pct Cr-0.2 pct Mo-0.05 pct Nb transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP)-aided steel consisting of a wide lath martensite structure matrix and a narrow lath martensite-metastable retained austenite mixture was investigated. The steel exhibited notable fatigue hardening in the same way as TRIP-aided bainitic ferrite steel, although conventional martensitic steel such as SCM420 steel with the same tensile strength exhibited fatigue softening. The considerable fatigue hardening of this steel is believed to be associated mainly with the compressive internal stress that results from a difference in flow stress between the matrix and the martensite-austenite-like phase, with a small contribution from the strain-induced transformation and dislocation hardenings.