Macroscopic and Microscopic Characterizations of Portevin-LeChatelier Effect in Austenitic Stainless Steel using High-Temperature Digital Image Correlation Analysis

Abstract Using digital image correlation (DIC) analysis in an Fe-19Cr-13Ni-0.2C austenitic stainless steel (mass%), the tensile deformation behavior accompanied with the Portevin-LeChatelier (PLC) effect was investigated at high temperatures of 723-823 K under various applied strain rates of 10−4 s−1–5 × 10−3 s−1. With the help of the DIC analysis, the global strain in the gauge part of a tensile specimen and the local strain in a PLC band were precisely measured regardless of the lowering machine stiffness at a high temperature. The high-temperature DIC analysis could identify the critical strain and strain rate conditions where stress-strain curve indicated serrated flow. The analytical results revealed that dynamic strain aging in the austenitic stainless steel was controlled by the pipe diffusion of Cr atoms. Further, it was also confirmed that the local strain gently increased in a gauge part through a PLC band propagation, which promoted a repeatable A-type PLC band propagation in the same direction. Furthermore, the local strain was discontinuously developed by the repeatable formation of PLC bands; consequently, the local strain rate became remarkably high within a PLC band. In addition, the local strain rate in the PLC band monotonically increased with the increase in the number of PLC bands. From this viewpoint, it was discovered that necking deformation occurs suddenly at the PLC band, when the local strain rate exceeds the critical value, where dynamic strain aging is ineffective.