On the Tensile Behavior of High-Manganese Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel

High-manganese FeMnC and FeMnAlC austenitic twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel exhibits excellent strain-hardening properties due to the gradual reduction of the mean free path for dislocations glide resulting from deformation twinning. Serrated stress-strain curves are often obtained when this type of steel is tested in a uniaxial tensile test. This phenomenon is due to dynamic strain aging (DSA). It is related to the occurrence of localized Portevin–LeChatelier (PLC) deformation bands. The properties of the PLC bands were accurately determined for a FeMnAlC TWIP steel using a combination of high-sensitivity infrared (IR) thermographic imaging and optical strain analysis carried out in situ during tensile deformation. Strain rate jump tests were conducted at room temperature to measure the instantaneous and steady-state strain rate sensitivity as a function of true stress and true strain. Negative values of the steady-state strain rate sensitivity were measured in both upward and downward jump tests. These measurements explain why FeMnC and FeMnAlC TWIP steels have a limited postuniform elongation. A model for the room-temperature DSA of high-Mn austenitic TWIP steel containing C in solid solution is proposed.