Spatio-temporal characteristics of the Portevin–Le Châtelier effect in austenitic steel with twinning induced plasticity

An experimental investigation of spatio-temporal characteristics of the Portevin–Le Châtelier (PLC) effect in austenitic steel with twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) is presented. Post-processing of high resolution digital images captured from specimens in quasi-static, room temperature tensile tests was conducted with a digital image correlation (DIC) method. This provided direct measurement of strain fields during all stages of the tests. Variable rate digital image capture, enabled with a custom image acquisition algorithm, guaranteed a suitable number of images recorded during serrations in load–time records. Nucleation, propagation, and morphology of individual PLC bands in both straight gage and tapered specimens were quantified with strain rate contours computed with a backward differentiation scheme. Time histories of strain evolution in the PLC band wakes were extracted from cumulative strain contours. Of the three types of PLC bands, only the continuously propagating Type A bands were observed. Band nucleation, which occurred at serration crests in flow curves derived from the DIC results, was not limited to regions of geometry-induced stress concentrations. Due to its importance in finite element springback predictions and to support theoretical model development of inelastic behavior in TWIP steel, we measured Young’s modulus variation with strain in periodic loading–unloading tests. Implications of the experimental results for theoretical modeling of the PLC effect in TWIP steel are discussed.