Toward a new interpretation of the mechanical behaviour of As-quenched low alloyed martensitic steels

Abstract : Though as-quenched martensite exhibits a low uniform elongation in tension, it is highlighted that this phase has a very high strain-hardening which increases with carbon content and a large Bauschinger effect. Because usual dislocation storage can not explain reasonably this particular behaviour, an approach based on a continuum composite view of martensite (CCA) is developed suitable to capture all the experimental features.