Our latest work has been published in Acta Materialia. The work is part of the PhD thesis project of M.Sc. Naiara Vázquez is funded by the Academy of Finland. The publication is now available online:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.06.053
In short, this article focuses on the phase transformation from austenite to martensite in a metastable austenitic stainless steel. Variations in either strain rate or temperature change dramatically the mechanical behavior of this type of steel, and thus the phase transformation rate. However, strain rate and temperature are strongly linked to one another. This work aimed to provide evidence that the strain rate itself has an important effect on the phase transformation. The mechanical tests at low and high strain rates are complemented with microstructural analysis that includes magnetic balance measurements, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis, and thermodynamic calculations.