MICROSTRUCTURAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF A LOW-ALLOY STEEL DUE TO VARIATIONS OF TEMPERATURES

Abstract

The microstructural and mechanical properties of a low alloy steel due to variations of temperatures were studied theoretically in this paper. In particular, the effects of microstructure, phase fractions, and local composition and area of single phases on the micromechanical behavior were considered. Based on these effects, a micro–macroscopic model was adopted to describe the hardening and fracture behaviors of this steel under some heat treatments. It was demonstrated that the flow curves under different intercritical temperatures could be well predicted by such model. Further simulation results showed that the high stress concentrated on the martensites, and the appearance of shear bands strongly depended on phase microstructures. In addition, it was found that the simulations on true stress–true strain curves at a macroscale were adequate for the prediction of damage behavior in differ-ent steels.