Influences of cyclic loading on martensite transformation of TRIP steels

While austenite transformation into martensite induces increasing of the crack initiation life and restraining of the growth of fatigue cracks in cyclic-loading processes, TRIP-assisted steels have a better fatigue life than the AHSS (Advance High Strength Steels). As two key parameters in the cyclic loading process, strain amplitude and cyclic frequency are used in a kinetic transformation model to reasonably evaluate the phase transformation from austenite into martensite with the shear-band intersections theory, in which strain amplitude and cyclic frequency are related to the rate of shear-band intersection formation and the driving force of phase transformation. The results revealed that the martensite volume fraction increased and the rate of phase transformation decrease while the number of cycles increased, and the martensite volume fraction was almost constant after the number of cycles was more than 2000 times. Higher strain amplitude promotes martensite transformation and higher cyclic frequency impedes phase transformation, which are interpreted by temperature increment, the driving force of phase transformation and the rate of shearband intersection formation.