Analysis of nano-hardness distribution near the ferritemartensite interface in a dual phase steel with factorization of its scattering behavior

Abstract

Herein, we investigated the local preliminary hardening of ferrite near the ferrite-martensite interfaces in a dual-phase (DP) steel. Geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), generated due to interfacial misfit between different phases, may cause preliminary hardening of ferrite around such interfaces. However, for nano-hardness distribution, the hardened zone was not evidently detected by scattering measurement. Thus, we factorized nano-hardness scattering to estimate the actual ferrite hardness near ferrite-martensite interfaces. First, nano-hardness was measured around a martensite island using a conical nano-indenter in the DP steel containing 10% martensite by volume. Taking into account the scattering, the nano-hardness measurement converged to the hardness of ferrite, exceeding the distance corresponding to the nano-indenter radius. Thus, a preliminary hardening zone was not detected. Subsequently, the surface of the nanoindented microstructure was polished and observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) by analyzing electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD). This analysis confirmed the presence of the nano-indented microstructure under ferrite. Moreover, it established that the majority of the irregularly higher nanohardness was caused by the buried martensite under ferrite. The value of the kernel average misorientation (KAM), which is proportional to the GND density for other irregularly higher nano-hardness points, was higher for the nano-indented microstructure as compared to that of the buried martensite. On the other hand, the ferrite was expanded under the nano-indented points for the majority of the irregularly lower nano-hardness, with some exceptions. Further, soft martensite was observed to induce irregularly lower nano-hardness locally around the interface.