Crystal Plasticity Modeling of Strain-Induced Martensitic Transformations to Predict Strain Rate and Temperature Sensitive Behavior of 304 L Steels: Applications to Tension, Compression, Torsion, and Impact

This paper advances crystallographically-based Olson-Cohen (direct gamma -> alpha) and deformation mechanism (indirect gamma ->epsilon ->alpha') phase transformation models for predicting strain-induced austenite to martensite transformation. The advanced transformation models enable predictions of not only strain-path sensitive, but also of strain-rate and temperature sensitive deformation of polycrystalline stainless steels (SSs). The deformation of constituent grains in SSs is modeled as a combination of anisotropic elasticity, crystallographic slip, and phase transformation, while the hardening is based on the evolution of dislocation density and explicit shifts in phase fractions. Such grain-scale deformation is implemented within the meso-scale elasto-plastic self-consistent (EPSC) homogenization model, which is coupled with the implicit finite element (FE) method to provide a constitutive response at each FE integration point for solving boundary value problems at the macro-scale. Parameters pertaining to the hardening and transformation models within FEEPSC are calibrated and validated on a suite of data including flow curves and phase fractions for monotonic compression, tension, and torsion as a function of strain-rate and temperature for wrought and additively manufactured (AM) SS304L. To illustrate the potential and accuracy of the integrated multi-level FE-EPSC simulation framework, geometry, mechanical response, phase fractions, and texture evolution are simulated during gas-gun impact deformation of a cylinder and quasi-static tension of a notched specimen made of AM SS304L. Details of the simulation framework, comparison between experimental and simulation results, and insights from the results are presented and discussed.