Experimental study of the phase transformation plasticity of 16MND5 low carbon steel under multiaxial loading

This paper is concerned with the experimental behaviour of a 16MND5 steel (french vessel steel) under complex loading. A particular attention is paid to plasticity induced by phase transformation. We present an experimental set-up to apply thermo-mechanical loads under tension-torsion. This apparatus enables us to reach temperature of 1200 °C at a maximum heating rate of 60 °C s⁻¹ and a high cooling rate of −30 °C s⁻¹. A series of tests is performed in order to show the rule of loading on transformation plasticity.