The Mechanical and Deformation Behavior of TWIP Steel Prepared by Directional Solidification

Abstract

A directionally solidified TWIP steel (Fe-25Mn-2.5Al-2.5Si) was prepared by liquid metal cooling technology. The microstructure and mechanical behavior were examined and compared with usually solidified samples. The directionally solidified TWIP steel shows a typical columnar grain structure, and the maximum true stress and true strain along the longitudinal direction of the sample are 1060MPa and 71% respectively. As a comparison, the usually solidified samples shows an equiaxed grain microstructure with the maximum true stress and true strain of only 994MPa and 58%, respectively. Moreover, the two solidification modes also lead to very different strain hardening behavior, particularly in the changes of strain hardening rate with strain. This suggests that the grain boundary plays a key role in the mechanical properties of TWIP steels, and changing the grain boundaries can be effective to improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of TWIP steels.