A model of stress induced martensitic transformation in Fe–Ni–C alloy

A model for the stress induced martensitic transformation in zirconia ceramics was refined and extended to investigate the process of stress induced martensitic transformation in an Fe–Ni–C alloy in compression. The relationships between the amount of martensite transformed, the volume change, and the longitudinal and transverse strains caused by the transformation, were predicted by the model and confirmed by experiment. According to the model, under uniaxial compression the grains with orientations close to <100> direction will preferentially transform to martensite. A consequence of this preferential transformation was the prediction of the development of a texture in the remaining austenite at low fractions of the stress induced martensite (<30%). The predicted texture in compression has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction.