Microstructural modeling and simulation for GCr15 steel during elevated temperature deformation

• Formulated the constitutive model for microstructural evolution of GCr15 steel.
• Observed the optical micrograph of GCr15 steel after hot deformation process.
• Confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the developed constitutive models.
• Simulated the microstructural evolution of GCr15 steel during hot deformation.

The microstructural evolution of GCr15 steel, one of the most commonly used bearing steels, was investigated and simulated by physical experiments and finite element method (FEM). Physical experiments were conducted on the Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation system. Effects of initial grain size and plastic strain on the microstructural of the materials were investigated by setting different heating temperature, holding time and deformation degree, respectively. Based on the results of stress–strain curves and metallographic analysis, the constitutive equations for flow stress, austenite grain growth and dynamic recrystallization of GCr15 steel were formulated by linear regression method and genetic algorithm. In addition, the coupled thermo-mechanical finite element method integrated with the developed constitutive models was used to simulate the microstructural evolution of GCr15 steel during hot compression. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental results was obtained, which confirmed that the developed constitutive models can be successfully used to predict microstructural evolution during hot deformation process for GCr15 steel.