Formation and coalescence of strain localized regions in ferrite phase of DP600 steels under uniaxial tensile deformation

In this study the key factors in the creation and coalescence of strain localization regions in dual-phase steels were investigated. An in-situ tensile setup was used to follow the microscopic deformation of ferrite phase inside the microstructure of DP600 steel. The test was continued until the specimen was very close to final failure. The captured scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs enabled us to directly observe the evolution of deformation bands as a contour of strain distribution in the ferrite matrix. The image processing method was used to quantify the ferrite microscopic strains; the obtained strain maps were superimposed onto the SEM micrographs. The results revealed important deformational characteristics of the microstructure at the microscopic level. It was observed that despite the formation of slip bands inside the large grains during the early stages of deformation, the large ferrite grains did not contribute to the formation of high-strain bands until the final stages of severe necking. The behavior of voids and initial defects inside the localization bands was also studied. In the final stages of deformation, cracks were observed to preferentially propagate in the direction of local deformation bands and to coalescence with each other to form the final failure lines in the microstructure. It was observed that in the final stages of deformation, the defects or voids outside the deformation bands do not contribute to the final failure mechanisms and could be considered to be of minor importance.