A study of local deformation and damage of dual phase steel

• Crack initiation in DP microstructure was investigated using 2D RVE simulation.
• The GTN damage model was used to describe void evolution in ferrite and interphase.
• Predicted damage at triple junctions agreed with observed crack initiation sites.
• RVE with GNDs zone showed damages took place at earlier deformation state.
• Overall loading condition exhibited significant effect on damage evolution rate.

Deformation and fracture behavior of Dual Phase (DP) high strength steel were investigated by means of a microstructure based Finite Element (FE) modeling. Representative Volume Elements (RVEs) were applied to consider effects of various microstructure constituents and characteristics. Individual stress–strain curves were provided for ferrite, martensite as well as transformation induced Geometrically Necessary Dislocations (GNDs) taking into account in the RVEs. Principally, the GNDs occurred around phase boundaries during quenching process due to the austenite–martensite transformation. Flow behaviors of individual phases were defined on the basis of dislocation theory and partitioning of local chemical composition. Then, flow curves of the examined DP steel were predicted. Furthermore, the Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman (GTN) model was used to represent ductile damage evolution in the microstructure. Occurrences of void initiation were characterized and damage parameters for RVE simulations were hence identified. Finally, influences of the GNDs, local stress and strain distributions and interactions between phases on predicted crack initiation in the DP microstructure were discussed and correlated with experimental results.