A crystallographic extension to the Olson-Cohen model for predicting strain path dependence of martensitic transformation

A modification to the empirical Olson-Cohen strain-induced austenite to martensite transformation kinetic model is proposed. The proposed kinetic model accounts for the stress state at the grain level and the crystallography of the transformation mechanism. Two transformation mechanisms sensitive to the local stress state are incorporated in the model. First, the resolved shear stress on a slip plane in the direction perpendicular to the Burgers vector determines the stacking fault width (SFW) which in turn determines the potential nucleation sites. Second, the stress triaxiality governs the probability of the structural α′-martensite formation at a nucleation site. The kinetic model is implemented in the elasto-plastic self-consistent (EPSC) crystal plasticity model to study the stress state and texture dependence of the strain-induced α′-martensite transformation and the mechanical response of metastable austenitic steels. The simulations are compared with experimental mechanical and phase fraction data from different austenitic steels subjected to simple tension, plane strain tension, equibiaxial tension, simple compression, and torsion. It is demonstrated that the appropriate modeling of α′-martensite phase fractions allows capturing the experimentally measured mechanical response. The implementation and insights from these predictions, including the role of texture evolution on martensite transformation, are discussed in this paper.