Deformation and fracture of surface-hardened materials at meso- and macroscale levels

Investigated in this work is the plastic deformation of representative mesovolumes of the steel 65Cr13 samples. They were surface-hardened by ion nitriding. An evolution of inner structure and stress–strain state in the mesovolumes with different thickness of surface-hardened layer was analyzed under tension and compression. A site of the working part of a cross-section of the sample was examined in the area of neck formation. To simulate the two-dimensional behavior of the deformed steel samples, two formulations are given. They include the strain hardening effects and crack formation. The results are presented and discussed.