Micromechanical Finite Element Analysis of the Effects of Martensite Particle Size and Ferrite Grain Boundaries on the Overall Mechanical Behavior of Dual Phase Steel

This paper focuses on micromechanical finite element (FE) modeling of the effects of size and morphology (particularly elongation or aspect ratio (AR) along the loading direction) of martensite particles and the ferrite grains on the overall mechanical behavior of dual-phase (DP) steels. To capture the size-effect of the martensite particles and ferrite grains, the core and mantle approach is adapted in which a thin interphase of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) is embedded at the martensite–ferrite boundaries. It is shown that as the martensite particles size decreases or their aspect ratio increases, both the strength and ductility of DP steel increase simultaneously. On the other hand, as the ferrite grain size decreases or its aspect ratio increases, the overall strength increases on the expense of the ductility. The conclusions from this study can be used in guiding the microstructural design of DP steels.