Finite element calculation of local variation in the driving force for austenite to martensite transformation

The mechanics and thermodynamics of strain induced martensitic transformation are coupled for a metastable alloy steel and implemented in FE models of forming processes. The basic formulations are based on a fifty year old treaty by Patel and Cohen[1]. The variation in Gibbs energy due to local variation in strain, strain rate, temperature and state of stress of a forming part is calculated by FE codes. The local variation in Gibbs energy gives a probabilistic image of the potential sites for strain induced martensitic transformations