Microstructurally induced fracture nucleation and propagation in martensitic steels

A dislocation-density grain boundary (GB) interaction scheme that is representative of dislocation-density transmission and blockage within GBs is developed and incorporated into a dislocation-density based multiple-slip crystalline plasticity framework for a detailed analysis of fracture nucleation and growth in martensitic steels. This formulation accounts for variant morphologies and orientation relationships (ORs) that are uniquely inherent to lath martensitic microstructures. Specialized finite-element (FE) methodologies using overlapping elements to represent evolving failure surfaces and microstructurally-based failure criteria for cleavage are then used to investigate the effects of martensitic variant distributions and ORs on the dominant dislocation-density mechanisms for the localization of plastic strains, and the initiation and propagation of fracture surfaces in martensitic microstructures subjected to quasi-static and dynamic strain-rates. The results indicate that the local dislocation-density behavior at the variant boundaries and the interiors influence dominant failure initiation and growth. A dislocation-density GB interaction, which is based on dislocation-density accumulation and transmission at variant boundaries, is developed and used to predict stress build-up or relaxation, and together with the orientation of the cleavage planes in relation to the lath morphology, intergranular and transgranular fracture modes can be determined.