Arch. Metall. Mater.

64 (2019), 1, 431-436

DOI: 10.24425/amm.2019.126269

Z. ZIMNIAK*#, D. DOBRAS*

ELECTROPLASTIC EFFECT OF HIGH MANGANESE AUSTENITIC STEEL

The article presents the results of the investigations performed on high manganese austenitic steel which underwent the test
of uniaxial tension, with the application of electric current impulses. The application of low voltage impulse alternating current
of high intensity during the plastic deformation of the examined steel caused the occurrence of the electroplastic effect, which
changed the shape of the stress-strain curve. A drop of flow stress and elongation of the tested material was observed in the case of
the application of electric current impulses, in respect of the material stretched without such impulses and stretched at an elevated
temperature. The analysis of the morphology of the fractures showed differences between the samples tested under the particular
conditions. An analysis of the alloy’s microstructure was also performed under different conditions. The application of electric cur-
rent impulses can have a significant influence on the reduction of the forces in the plastic forming processes for this type of steel.
Keywords: electroplastic effect, high manganese steel, TWIP effect

1. Introduction al. [6] studied the occurrence of EPE in the process of drawing
wires made of pure copper, obtaining a lower drawing load and
It is commonly known that the application of electric cur- better plastic properties of the obtained products.
rent impulses with a properly high intensity and the appropriate Owing to their interesting properties, high strength and
duration time can increase the plasticity and reduce the flow good plasticity, austenitic steels have been a common subject of
stress of the plastically deformed material. This phenomenon is research related to the electroplastic effect. Also as a result of the
called the electroplastic effect (EPE) [1-2]. It is assumed that the studies of the electroplastic effect, in the process of drawing wires
electric current flowing through the material affects on the exist- made of chromium-nickel stainless steel, a significant reduction
ing dislocations and their interactions with the obstacles present of the drawing load was obtained, as well as an improvement
in their way. Such effect makes it easier for the dislocations to of the quality of the obtained products and an increase of their
cross over the obstacles, thus increasing the material’s plastic- plasticity, with a simultaneous drop of their tensile strength
ity. In his works, Conrad [1-2] points to the significance of the [7-8]. Breda et al. [9] performed tensile tests on steel AISI 316L;
dislocation-electron interaction, which can also be responsible however, they applied direct current, obtaining lower flow stress
for the observed phenomena. In turn, Molotskii [3] states that and, at the same time, a smaller elongation.
the electric current flowing through the alloy induces magnetic This article presents the investigations performed on high
field, which makes it easier for the dislocations to detach from manganese austenitic steel, type X50MnAl15-2, with the effect of
the paramagnetic obstacles and pass through them. reinforcement through mechanical twinning (TWIP – twinning-
Although the theoretical basis of this phenomenon is still induced plasticity). High manganese TWIP steels belong to the
little known, the application of electric current impulses in the group of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and they are
plastic forming processes brings very interesting results. For hoped to be used e.g. as: motorcar body components, as, owing
example, Song et al. [4] succeeded in increasing the engineer- to the TWIP effect, they characterize in an increased storage
ing strain of aluminum alloy 5052-H32 from 11,4 wt.% to 34,8 of cold plastic deformation energy. They also characterize in
wt.% in respect of the material stretched without the applica- a good combination of high mechanical properties and good
tion of electric current impulses, and in the case of magnesium plasticity. However, their price is relatively high compared to the
alloy AZ31B-O – from 25 wt.% up to as much as 41 wt.%. In conventional steels from the AHSS group. An additional problem
both cases, there was a drop of the yield stress. Lesiuk at al. connected with the forming of elements made of this alloy is the
[5] investigated the effect of the application of electric current necessity of using high force in the plastic treatment processes
impulses on the fatigue strength of steel AISI 304, which was [10-12]. And so, the aim of this study is to examine the behaviour
successfully increased by the average of 11 wt.%. Zimniak et of TWIP steels during plastic deformation with the application
* WROCŁAW UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF METAL FORMING AND METROLOGY, 5 ŁUKASIEWICZA STR., 50-370 WROCŁAW, POLAND
# Corresponding author: [email protected]
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of electric current impulses. Such a solution can undoubtedly flowing current, the tensile tests were performed also in a thermal
contribute to a reduction of the flow stress of the examined chamber, without current flow, with the use of a ZWCIK 1478
material, and, as a result, of the force needed for the plastic tensile machine. An analysis of the morphology of the fractures
deformation, and also to a reduction of the energy consumption. was conducted by means of a scanning electron microscope
(SEM) VEGA3 TESCAN. The material test samples were
etched in nital or aqua regia. The material tests were performed
2. Experimental with the use of a light microscope Olympus GX51 and NIKON
ECLIPSE MA200.
2.1. Materials

High manganese austenitic steel sheet X50MnAl15-2,

thickness 1,5 mm, was selected for the presented studies.
The chemical composition of the alloy, measured by means
of a chemical composition analyzer emission spectrometer
LECO GDS500A, has been given in Table 1. A properly high
content of carbon, manganese and aluminum made it possible
to obtain steel with the stacking fault energy (SFE) ensuring
the occurrence of plastic strain induced twinning (TWIP). The Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the current impulse application
SFE of the examined steel also makes possible the occurrence
of a martensitic transformation induced by plasticity; however,
TABLE 2
not with the applied deformation rate [11]. The samples were
Experimental parameters
prepared through laser cutting and made in line with the metal
sheet rolling direction. The gage width of the sample equalled No. td tp
12 mm and its gage length was 75 mm. 1 80 μs 400 μs
2 100 μs 1 ms
TABLE 1 3 500 μs 2 ms
4 1 ms 10 ms
Chemical composition of steel X50MnAl15-2 5 10 ms 100 ms
6 50 ms 500 ms
Element C Mn Si P S Cr Al Fe
7 50 ms 300 ms
wt.% 0,532 14,5 0,142 0,0018 0,0007 0,5659 2,11 Residue
8 50 ms 150 ms

2.2. Methods
3. Results and discussion

The tensile tests of the examined material were performed

In the as-received state, material is characterized by a fine-
on an INSTRON 3369 tensile machine, with the deformation rate
grained structure, with clearly visible banding (Fig. 2). Banding
equalling 2*10–2 s–1. The electric current impulses were provided
is an effect of the rolling process. The observed grain size is
by means of a constructed high current impulse generator. For
the construction of the generator, 4 super-capacitors were used,
with the total capacity of 14000 F, and its maximal working
voltage equalled 2,7 V. An oscilloscope and a function generator
were applied to control the current impulses. The shape of the
generated impulses has been shown in Figure 1, where td is the
duration time of an impulse and tp is the time period.
The intensity of the current flowing through the samples
was measured by means of the Rogowski Coil Power Electronic
Measurements UK. The maximal temperature reached by the
samples during the tensile test was recorded by a thermovision
camera FLIR T440. The electric current impulses were applied
throughout the whole duration time of the sample’s stretching.
The examined material was separated with insulators from
the remaining part of the tensile machine. The applied current
parameters have been included in Table 2. The discharge volt-
age for each test was the same and equalled 2,53 V. In order Fig. 2. Microstructure of the as-received material of steel X50MnAl15-2,
to separate the effect of the temperature coming only from the LOM, etched in aqua regia
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within the range of a few to over a dozen micrometers and the
twin boundaries are present within the particular austenite grains.
The presence of ferrite and strain-induced martensite was not
observed [9,12].
The application of electric current impulses was in line with
the diagram presented in Fig. 1 and the test parameters have been
given in Table 2. The density ρ of the current which was flowing
through the examined material in the particular tests has been
shown in Table 3. The flowing current was measured by means
of the Rogowski coil, and the obtained value was divided by
the surface area of the cross-section of the sample, in order to
obtain the current density. The maximum temperature values T
recorded during the stretching of the particular samples until the
moment of fracture have been included in Table 3.
Fig. 3. True stress-strain curves without and with the application of
A comparison of the material’s stress-stain curves, both in electric current impulses
the case of the application of electric current impulses and with-
out it, at ambient temperature, has been shown in Figs. 3-5. Due
to a large number of lines and for better readability, the obtained
data have been divided into three groups.
As it has been demonstrated in Figure 3, the application
of very short impulses caused a slight drop of stress and a re-
duction of elongation. With the increase of the impulse length,
the drop of stress and the elongation reduction were increasing
(Fig. 4). At the same time, an increase of the current density
as well as increase of the tested material’s temperature was
observed – Table 3.
As it has been shown in Figure 5, the presence of character-
istic “serrations” on the stress-strain curve was observed when
the impulse’s duration time and the period were increased. Such
a behaviour should be explained by the fact that, at the moment
of applying the electric current impulse, a drop of flow stress
Fig. 4. True stress-strain curves without and with the application of
takes place (stress-drop), whereas, during the pause between electric current impulses
the impulses, the material begins to strain-hardening behaviour
again, which is a commonly known phenomenon [13]. A sig-
nificant drop of stress and elongation were observed when the
frequency of the flowing current increased, while the impulse’s
length was maintained on the same level. Especially when the
value of the maximal stress dropped from 1263 to 538 MPa and
the elongation decreased from 0,33 to 0,143, for the parameters
no. 8 (50 ms/150 ms) and the highest current density, equalling
55,6 A/mm2 has been obtained. It is also worth mentioning that,
in each case, a lower value of flow stress was observed.

TABLE 3
Experimental parameters

No. td tp ρ [A/mm2] T [°C]

1 80 μs 400 μs 22,2 51
Fig. 5. True stress-strain curves without and with the application of
2 100 μs 1 ms 22,2 56
electric current impulses
3 500 μs 2 ms 27,8 130
4 1 ms 10 ms 27,8 120
5 10 ms 100 ms 27,8 131 The curves in Figure 6 and 7 show the differences between
6 50 ms 500 ms 38,9 134 the tests made with the application of the electric current and
7 50 ms 300 ms 44,4 177 their counterparts made at elevated temperatures. Curves
8 50 ms 150 ms 55,6 283 no. 1 and 2 should be compared with the baseline (Fig. 3),
434
as the temperature of this sample, at the moment of fracture, Based on the obtained results, it can be stated that, in the
equalled 45°C, which was caused by the energy of plastic strain, examined material, in samples no. 1-4 and 6, the electroplastic
transformed into heat. The baseline curve is characterized by effect did not occur, and the drop of stress was caused only by
larger elongation and slightly higher flow stress. As it has been Joule heat. The samples with the application of shorter electric
shown in Figure 6, a similar situation can be observed in the current impulses are characterized by flow stress being on the
comparison of the 130°C curve with curves no. 3-6, except line same level as their thermal counterpart. Smaller elongation of
no. 5. The stress value remained at the same level; however, theses samples have an negative characteristics. In the compari-
the elongation became significantly reduced. Curve no. 5, in son of curves no. 5, 7 and 8 and their temperature equivalents,
its whole plasticity range, is located below the 130°C curve. despite a significant reduction of elongation, a substantial drop
The value of yield stress, flow stress and elongation is lower. of stress was observed, which proves the occurrence of the
As shown in Fig. 7, despite the fact that the yield point is at the electroplastic effect in the examined samples. This drop cannot
same level in both curves, no. 8 and 283°C, the elongation of the be explained by an increase of temperature.
second is more than twice higher. Nevertheless, the flow stress is Figures 8-11 show the morphology of the fractures obtained
significantly lower, except for the initial scope. The temperature from scanning microscopy. The microscope worked in the SE
equivalent for curve no. 7 was not made; however, its thermal (secondary electrons) mode, with the accelerating voltage of
counterpart has intermediate properties in respect of curves 30 kV. Among the samples which reached the largest elongation
no. 5 and 8. (e.g. the baseline – Fig. 8 and the 283°C sample – Fig. 11), the
presence of the highest and deepest micro-tunnels was observed,
which were the effect of a large elongation of the material. As
it has been shown in Fig. 10, the micro-tunnels in the samples
through which current of higher density was flowed and char-
acterized in a more oval shape, as well as a smaller depth and
diameter. Additionally, on the surface of the fractures of these
samples, a much higher number of micro-tunnels was observed,
whose presence can be connected with the fact that these sam-
ples characterized in a larger narrowing of the neck, despite the
smaller elongation. The size and depth of the voids on the sur-
face of the fractures were also larger in the case of the samples
with a larger elongation. The samples through which current of
lower density was flowing characterized in intermediate proper-
ties (Fig. 9). The large number of micro-tunnels as well as the
much more rapid and larger narrowing of the neck could have
Fig. 6. True stress-strain curves under different conditions
been the cause of a smaller elongation and, as a result, a more

Fig. 7. True stress-strain curves under different conditions

It is worth mentioning that the material stretched at the

temperatures of 130 and 283°C was at an elevated temperature
during the whole test, while the material with the application of
electric current impulses was at room temperature in the initial
stage and reached the maximal temperature at the final stage. Fig. 8. Morphology of the baseline sample fracture
 435

Fig. 9. Morphology of the fracture of sample no. 1 Fig. 11. Morphology of the fracture of sample 280°C

Fig. 12. Microstructure of the baseline sample, LOM, etched in nital

Fig. 10. Morphology of the fracture of sample no. 7

rapid fracture of the material, through which current of higher

density was flowing.
The observation was carried out in order to evaluate the
microstructural evolution of deformed zones at different condi-
tions (Fig. 12-14). In case of each micrograph the direction of
tensile force is parallel to horizontal direction of the picture
and banding of the microstructure. Due a strong deformation
and banding of the microstructure it is very difficult to identify
its evolution. However, figure 13 shows deformation zone of Fig. 13. Microstructure of sample 280°C, LOM, etched in nital
436
sample investigated at elevated temperature, it is seen that
examples small groups of slip bands are inclined at the angle
of 45o to the direction of tensile force (marked by black ar-
rows). That slip systems (in the grains interior) were activated
by plastic deformation. Mechanical twins, which occur at such
a high level of deformation in this type of steel are not visible.
Also the strain-induced martenstie and differences in the grains
size were not observed. TEM observation should be carry out
to further studying the microstructural evolution, especially to
revealing the mechanical twins and their intensity depending on
the conditions and eventual confirming the absence of martensite.
Moreover, in the each of micrographs presence of the voids, in
the form of black dots, were observed. They are identified with
micro-tunnels, which were found in the images of fractures
(Fig. 8-11). Additionally, in the case of samples deformed with
Fig. 14. Microstructure of sample no. 6, LOM, etched in nital
application of current impulses, near the edge of the fractures,
the specific bands were revealed, inclined at the angle of 135° to
the direction of tensile force (marked by black arrows in Fig. 14). images of microstructures. Electroplastic deformation of high
Similar results to those obtained in this study have been manganese austenitic steel could be very promising technology.
achieved by other authors, who examined steels from the AHSS Application of electric current impulses, allow to obtain the same
group. A reduction of elongation was observed both in the case plastic strain with smaller values of forces and hence reduction
of dual-phase and multi-phase steel. Additionally, the application of the energy consumption. Although it leads to significant de-
of one long impulse made it possible to reduce the flow stress crease of maximum plastic strain, what is very important issue in
[14-16]. A continuation of the research on the use of electric cur- industrial applications, its strain still remain on quite good level.
rent impulses in high-manganese austenitic steels is necessary.
Despite the lack of an effective mathematical model describing
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