Orientation evolution in Hadfield steel single crystals under combined slip and twinning

The tensile deformation response and texture evolution of aluminum alloyed Hadfield steel single crystals oriented in the 〈1 6 9〉 direction is investigated. In this material, the strain hardening response is governed by the high-density dislocation walls (HDDWs) that interact with glide dislocations. A microstructure-based visco-plastic self-consistent model was modified to account for mechanical twinning in addition to the prevailing contribution of the HDDWs. Simulations revealed the contribution of twinning to the overall work hardening at the later stages of deformation. Moreover, both the deformation response and the rotation of the loading axis associated with plastic flow are successfully predicted even at the high-strain levels attained (0.53). Predicting the texture evolution serves as a separate check for validating the model, motivating its utilization in single and polycrystals of other alloys that exhibit combined HDDWs and twinning.