Kinematics of deformation bands in an austenitic FeMnC TWIP steel

Tensile tests on a Fe22Mn0.6C steel at room temperature and different strain rates show serrations on the curves similar to Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) serrations of type A, associated with negative strain rate sensitivity. Propagation of deformation bands have been observed by high-rate extensometry over more than two orders of magnitude of the applied strain rate. This constitutes a remarkable difference with the PLC effect which shows a transition to static bands (type B or C) when the applied strain rate decreases. In this steel, bands moving as slow as a few tenth of mm/s are observed instead of static bands, which is two orders of magnitude lower than what is reported for type A PLC bands. This emphasises a strong correlation between plastic events, also confirmed by multifractal analysis of the tensile curves. Twinning which is responsible of the high strain hardening rate of this steel at room temperature is discussed as one of mechanisms of correlation between instabilities.