The effect that the microstructure exerts on the Transformation-Induced Plasticity (TRIP) phenomenon and on the mechanical properties in a multiphase steel was studied. Samples of an initially cold-rolled ferrite–pearlite steel underwent different intercritical annealing treatments at 750 °C until equal fractions of austenite/ferrite were reached; the intercritical treatment was followed by isothermal bainitic treatments before cooling the samples to room temperature. Samples in the first treatment were heated directly to the intercritical temperature, whereas other samples were heated to either 900 °C or 1100 °C to obtain a fully homogenized, single-phase austenitic microstructure before performing the intercritical treatment. The high-temperature homogenization of austenite resulted in a decrease in its stability, so a considerable austenite fraction transformed into martensite by cooling to room temperature after the bainitic heat treatment. Most of the retained austenite transformed during the tensile tests, and, consequently, the previously homogenized steels showed the highest Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS). In turn, the steel with a ferritic–pearlitic initial microstructure exhibited higher ductility than the other steels and texture components that favor forming processes.

The microstructure of low-alloy multiphase transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels consists of ferrite, bainite, and metastable retained austenite, which can be transformed into martensite by plastic deformation. In some cases, residual martensite can be present in the initial microstructure. The mechanical behavior of these steels depends on the interaction between the intrinsic characteristics of the existing phases and the austenite stability. Due to these factors, the definition of their true stress-strain flow law is complex. This work presents the mechanical characterization of a phenomenological constitutive stress-strain flow law based on the Bouquerel et al. model, as evaluated for three TRIP steels of the same composition but undergoing different heat treatments. Morphological aspects of the existing phases, austenite stability, and suitable mixture laws between phases are considered. The model is found to accurately reproduce a true stress-strain flow law obtained under tensile uniaxial conditions and provide detailed information on the effective stress strain partition between the existing phases.

A constant effort is made in the physical metallurgy of transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. These are multiphase steels, whose mechanical behavior depends on the different phases present, the intrinsic strength of each phase, the work hardening of each constituent and the austenite to martensite transformation, among others. Hard and soft phases can be distinguished in these steels and both stress and strain are distributed between them. The objective of this work was to simulate the stress-strain behavior for two TRIP steels. Bouquerel’s model was modified to account for the initial martensite, a moderate hard austenite and adjustable strain hardening parameters. The austenite fraction that transforms into martensite was computed through an Olson and Cohen model. The Mecking-Kocks model was used to evaluate the increment in the dislocation density and the Rodriguez-Gutierrez model, to compute the hardening of martensite. Ferrite is considered a soft phase, martensite and bainite, hard phases and austenite, a phase with a moderate hardness. The routine was implemented in MATLAB, and results were compared with those obtained experimentally in a tension test of two TRIP steels of the same composition but different heat treatments, obtaining in both cases a good agreement for the stress-strain-curves.