Precise measurement of strain accommodation in austenite matrix surrounding martensite in ferrous alloys by electron backscatter diffraction analysis

Local strain distributions in austenite matrix that is deformed to accommodate shape strain associated with formation of martensite were investigated by means of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis for various morphologies of lath, lenticular and thin plate martensite in ferrous alloys. By detecting small changes in EBSD patterns through image analysis of the patterns, components of both strain and rotation tensors in austenite matrix adjacent to martensite were measured quantitatively. In the austenite matrix surrounding thin plate martensite, the magnitude of components of strain tensor is nearly as large as those of rotation tensor, implying that shape strain of thin plate martensite is accommodated by elastic deformation of austenite. On the other hand, in the austenite matrices surrounding lenticular and lath martensite, components of strain tensor are found to be much smaller than those of rotation tensor even near the austenite/martensite interface. This indicates that most of the shape strain associated with the formation of lenticular and lath martensite is accommodated by plastic deformation in the austenite matrix. The misorientation axis of austenite adjacent to lenticular and lath martensite coincides well with that predicted from the phenomenological theory of martensite crystallography.