Evolution of microstructures in a nanotwinned steel investigated by nanoindentation and electrical resistivity measurement论文.pdfVIP

Evolution of microstructures in a nanotwinned steel investigated by nanoindentation and electrical resistivity measurement 1 2 2 1 ZHOU Peng , LIU Ren-dong , WANG Xu , HUANG Ming-xin (1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China; 2. Iron and Steel Research Institute, Ansteel Group, Anshan, China) Abstract: A twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel was subjected to cold rolling followed by recovery heat treatment, forming a nanotwinned steel. During the recovery annealing, the nanotwins are thermally stable so that they remain in the sample after recovery annealing. On the contrary, the dislocation density was reduced greatly after recovery annealing. The nanotwinned steel possesses a high yield strength, high ultimate tensile strength and good ductility. The nanohardness tests and electrical resistivity measurements illustrate that the dislocation density increases dramatically in the nanotwinned steel during the tensile test while the twin volume fraction remains constant. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation confirms the results from nanoindentation and electrical resistivity tests. The maximum volume fraction of deformation twins has been reached during the heavy cold rolling so that no more new deformation twins can be generated in the nanotwinned steel during tensile test. Therefore, the work hardening behaviour of the nanotwinned steel is mainly provided by the accumulation of dislocations. Key words: Nanotwinned steel; TWIP steel; Nanotwins; Nanoindentation; Electrical resistivity 1