Effect of temperature on the plastic flow and strain hardening of direct-quenched ultra-high strength steel S960MC

This study investigates the plastic deformation and hardening behavior of the direct-quenched ultra-high strength steel S960MC at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 900 degrees C. In this regard, the Hollomon and Voce equations are used to model the hardening behavior of the material at different temperatures. The suitability of each equation to predict the plastic flow of S960MC is evaluated based on the best resulted fit for the material. In addition, microstructural investigations are carried out to indicate the correlations between the microstructural changes, occurring in the range of room temperature to 900 degrees C, and hardening behavior and governing parameters. The Hollomon approach showed deviations from the experimental results for room to intermediate temperatures; however, the Voce equation modeled the material's strain hardening and flow behavior more successfully for the entire temperature range of room temperature-900 degrees C. Additionally, there was a significant consistency between the Kocks-Mecking and Voce parameters. Dislocation interactions, dynamic strain aging, dynamic recrystallization, dynamic recovery, tempering (martensite decomposition), and austenite formation were the most influential microstructural features on the hardening behavior at various temperatures. The correlations between these microstructural features and hardening parameters were established satisfactorily for both the Hollomon and Voce approaches.