Microstructural strain mapping during in-situ cyclic testing of ductile iron

This paper focuses on local strain distribution in the microstructure of high silicon ductile iron during cyclic loading. In-situ cyclic test was performed on compact-tension (CT) samples inside the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to record the whole deformation and obtain micrographs for microstructural strain measurement by means of digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Focused ion beam (FIB) milling was used to generate speckle patterns necessary for DIC measurement. The equivalent Von Mises strain distribution was measured in the microstructure at the maximum applied load. The results revealed a heterogeneous strain distribution at the microstructural level with higher strain gradients close to the notch of the CT sample and accumulated strain bands between graphite particles. Local strain ahead of the early initiated micro-cracks was quantitatively measured, showing high strain localization, which decreased by moving away from the micro-crack tip. It could be observed that the peak of strain in the field of view was not necessarily located ahead of the micro-cracks tip which could be because of the (i) strain relaxation due to the presence of other micro-cracks and/or (ii) presence of subsurface microstructural features such as graphite particles that influenced the strain concentration on the surface.