Microstructure - macroscopie behavior relationship in steels : effect of the austenite grain size on transformation plasticity

This work is a contribution to the study of mechanical consequences of solid-solid state phase transformations in steels, particularly the Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP), and the effect of the Austenite Grain Size (AGS). The evolution of AGS was studied taking into account different austenitization conditions. Then, TRIP tests were carried out with the same conditions to observe the evolution of TRIP with AGS. Three types of loading are considered: the uniaxial tension case, torsion case and biaxial tension and torsion case. The resuslts show that: i)the TRIP increase with AGS in the tensile case. ii) It is independant for the torsion case. iii) For the biaxial loading case, the TRIP decreases slightly. This shows that the micromechanical models describing the TRIP should be reviewed to take account of the AGS.