Elastoplastic deformation of ferritic steel and cementite studied by neutron diffraction and self-consistent modelling

A tensile specimen was machined from heat treated ferritic steel, with a small volume fraction of carbon in the form of cementite. In situ measurements of the strain response of multiple hkl lattice planes to an applied uniaxial tensile load were made using neutron diffraction, to macroscopic plastic strains of around 3%. The experimental results are compared with predictions from a self-consistent Hill–Hutchinson model modified to take into account the presence of the second phase. Good agreement was obtained between model and experimental data. The interpretation of residual stress measurements, for both single peak and Rietveld measurements is considered in light of these results.