Microstructure based prediction and homogenization of the strain hardening behavior of dual-phase steel

The mechanical behavior of automotive dual-phase steel (DP) is modeled by two different approaches: with a full-field representative volume element (RVE) and with a mean-field model. In the first part of this work, the full-field RVE is constituted by a crystal plasticity-based ferrite matrix with von Mises-type martensite inclusions. To isolate the martensite influence, the full-field DP results were compared to a full-field comparison RVE. In the comparison RVE, all martensite inclusions were replaced by a phase that exhibits the average ferrite behavior. A higher relative martensite grain boundary coverage facilitates an increased average dislocation density after quenching. However, for uniaxial deformations above ∼10%, the grain size-dependent relation reverses and exhibits slowed-down hardening. In the second part, we incorporate the main findings from the full-field simulations into a nonlinear mean-field model of Hashin–Shtrikman type. The dislocation density production parameter and the saturated dislocation density are modeled based on grain size and martensite coverage. The comparison of both approaches shows good agreement for both the overall and constituent averaged behavior.