Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Twin Variant Selection in Austenitic Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel

Abstract

Twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels with the austenite structure containing high manganese exhibit both good strength and excellent formability. Such properties originate from crystallographic slip and mechanical twins produced when the austenite structure is under mechanical stress. There are 12 twin systems, referred to as twin variants, when slip is induced. These twin systems include twin planes and twin directions and play an important role in determining strength and ductility of the material by strongly influencing texture formation of the austenite structure. In the present study, twins produced in a high-Mn TWIP steel as a result of uniaxial tension were observed using a transmission electron microscope; a comparative analysis was performed through interaction energy calculations. Electron diffraction was used to determine the twin system with respect to the uniaxial tension direction in each grain. Both the Schmid factors and interacting energies required for the generation of twins were calculated and subsequently compared with experimental results. This approach demonstrated the possibility of predicting the deformation behavior of the material.