Exploring the Structure–Property Relationship in Spheroidized C45EC Steel Using Full Phase Crystal Plasticity Numerical Simulations

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Abstract
Herein, micromechanical simulations for three different states of spheroidized steel (C45EC) are conducted under quasi‐static tensile loading based on the actual texture and crystallographic orientation from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data. Data denoising is conducted with MTex (open‐source Toolbox with MATLAB) for cleaning up the EBSD data. Crystal plasticity‐based full phase numerical simulations are performed on these constructed representative volume elements (RVEs) to analyze the local stress and strain evolution in C45EC steels. The local results of the simulations exhibit important insights into deformation evolution influenced by the size and clustering of cementite particles as well as crystallographic orientations of ferrite grains. It is observed that the full phase simulation model helps predict the local microstructural details for overall mechanically improved properties of the steels. Spheroidized steel samples (97%) show the most favorable mechanical response as adequate strain hardening with extended elongation is desired for cold‐working of parts. The current work is another step forward to fine‐tune the microstructural attributes of medium carbon steels for an improved mechanical response.

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