Instrumented indentation study of bainite/martensite duplex microstructure

Local mechanical properties of inverse bainite have been characterized using instrumented indentation. The results show that the hardness and Young's modulus of inverse bainite decreased with the increase in transformation time. The Young's modulus was significantly different from that of the martensitic matrix. Local misorientation analysis confirmed that the dislocation density in the inverse bainite decreases, eventually reducing Young's modulus of inverse bainite as transformation times are increased.