On the Utility of Crystal Plasticity Modeling to Uncover the Individual Roles of Microdeformation Mechanisms on the Work Hardening Response of Fe-23Mn-0.5C TWIP Steel in the Presence of Hydrogen

This paper presents a combined experimental and theoretical analysis focusing on the individual roles of microdeformation mechanisms that are simultaneously active during the deformation of twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels in the presence of hydrogen. Deformation responses of hydrogen-free and hydrogen-charged TWIP steels were examined with the aid of thorough electron microscopy. Specifically, hydrogen charging promoted twinning over slip-twin interactions and reduced ductility. Based on the experimental findings, a mechanism-based microscale fracture model was proposed, and incorporated into a visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) model to account for the stress-strain response in the presence of hydrogen. In addition, slip-twin and slip-grain boundary interactions in TWIP steels were also incorporated into VPSC, in order to capture the deformation response of the material in the presence of hydrogen. The simulation results not only verify the success of the proposed hydrogen embrittlement (HE) mechanism for TWIP steels, but also open a venue for the utility of these superior materials in the presence of hydrogen.