j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l .

2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

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www.jmrt.com.br

Original Article

Plastic damage evolution in structural steel and its

non-destructive evaluation

Xiao Wang a,∗,1 , Jian-Guo Chen a,∗,1 , Guo-feng Su a , Hua-Ying Li b , Chuang Wang c
a Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b College of Literature and Communication, Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, Chengde 067000, China
c School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper reports the plastic damage evolution in low carbon structural steel and its
Received 2 November 2019 NDT evaluation. The SEM observations reveal that the voids initiation, growth, coalescence,
Accepted 19 November 2019 micro-crack propagation, and macro-crack formation are the main failure forms. The EBSD
Available online 19 December 2019 results show that with the increasing plastic strain, the KAM and GND within grains in LC
steel increased continuously. Meanwhile, the BS value and the IPF maps quality decreased
Keywords: significantly. Besides, the TEM observations show that the plastic strain induced dislocation
Plastic damage density increase and inhomogeneous dislocation distribution in LC steel, the dislocation
Structural steel nets structures were developed at the later plastic stages, which consist of high-density
EBSD dislocation tangles. Also, the magnetic hysteresis-loop changed distinctly after the plas-
Electromagnetic technique tic strain, and the Coercivity is sensitive to the change of dislocation structure/density.
Therefore, the electromagnetic technique can be utilized to assess the plastic damage in
LC steel.
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the
CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

good weldability and formability, which can be employed for

1. Introduction
Steel is essential to the modern world, and its use is vital in
enabling man to move towards a sustainable future [1–4]. The
steel industry has grown from ancient times, which can be
traced back for thousands of years in Anatolia about 2000 BC.
Nowadays, steel is still a fundamental part of the changing
world, and more than 1.4 billion tons of steel are produced
every year [5]. In the industrial areas, the Low Carbon (LC)
structural steel is easily available and relatively inexpensive
[6]. Meanwhile, it possesses desired mechanical properties,
building and forming important structures, from the skeletons
of office buildings to the spans of bridges, also, it can be made
into the frames of cars, and can be used to make a variety of
machine parts as required [7–9].
However, these LC structural steel components utilized
in engineering practice are frequently subjected to the ten-
sion load and high energy impact, which may cause the
material deterioration and life reduction [10,11]. Plastic strain
induced damage is an important source of potential failure
of engineering components, which is one kind of the perma-
nent deformation/distortion that occurs when a material is

∗
Corresponding authors.
E-mails: wxm1273@sina.com (X. Wang), chenjianguo@tsinghua.edu.cn (J. Chen).
1
Present address: Room 1003, Building Liu Qing, Shuangqing Road, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2019.11.046
2238-7854/© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1190 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

Fig. 1 – Schematic diagram of this tensile experiment.

(a) The strip-shape LC steel specimen with 10 mm thickness. (b) The MTS-C45 tensile testing machine. (c) The stress-strain
curve and tensile point of LC steel specimen.

subjected to applied stresses that exceed its yield strength
and cause it to elongate, compress, bend, or twist [12]. Consid-
ering the widely application of structural steel components,
and the disastrous consequences once caused by the struc-
tural failure, more research work should be devoted to the
microstructural analysis of damage evolution and its non-
destructive evaluation (NDE), so as to recognize the failure
mechanism of structural steel as well as to achieve the remain-
ing life prediction.
Currently, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) method,
that equipped on the scanning electron microscope (SEM),
has attracted lots of researchers’ attention [13–15], because
it has advantages that the texture evolution in material can
be quantitatively identified based on the measured nano-
scale orientation data, and it has gotten in experiments in
some aspects [16–20] such as the phase/substructures char-
acterization in material during the cold or hot deformation,
quenching, annealing, and recrystallization. In this research,
the microstructural damage evolution and the failure mech-
anism in LC structural steel were investigated and revealed
by using the SEM, EBSD and TEM (Transmission Electron
Microscopy) in combination.
Meanwhile, an effective and high reproducibility NDE tech-
nique was needed to achieve the integrity monitoring of LC
structural steel. In recent years, the magnetic methods have
received increasingly interest [21–23], and even be considered
as more promising than the traditional ultrasonic approaches,
due to the early degradation in steels such as dislocation
structure variation may cause changes in material magnetic
properties to a larger degree than they affect the propagation
of ultrasonic waves [24]. In this research, we also adopted the
electromagnetic magnetic technique to study the plastic dam-
age evolution in LC structural steel. By tracking and measuring
for the different degrees of plastic strain, we tried to explore
the correlation between the material degradation and mag-
netic property change, so that the follow-up nondestructive
evaluation and repair work can be taken in time.
2. Experimental
2.1. Material specification and tensile tests
Material used in this research was the commercial LC steel,
with the following chemical composition (wt.%) as list in
Table 1. The tensile samples were fabricated into the strip-
shape sample, and the detailed specifications can be seen in
Fig. 1(a). The tensile tests were carried out on the MTS-C45
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199 1191

Table 1 – The chemical composition of this LC steel (wt.%).

Element C Cr S P Mn Sn V Al Co

Mild steel 0.211 0.0178 0.054 0.0148 0.208 0.0022 0.001 0.0025 0.037

Table 2 – Value of stress and strain corresponds to each measurement point.

Tensile point 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Stress (MPa) 310 335 385 425 450 457 451 448 400 340
Strain (%) 0.7 2.85 5.3 8.15 12.5 16.6 19 22 24.76 26.54

Table 3 – The mechanical properties of this LC steel.

Mechanical Elastic Tensile Reduction
properties limit strength of area

Mild steel 310 MPa 457 MPa 65.6%

tensile testing machine (see Fig. 1(b)), and the correspond-

ing stress-strain curve of this material is shown in Fig. 1(c).
To produce varying degrees of damage, the LC steel speci-
mens were stretched to several different degrees of strain.
Fig. 2 – Diagram of the magnetic measurement in mild
The stretching rate was set as 2 mm/min. The specific value
steel specimen.
about the stress-strain points were shown in Table 2. Besides,
the mechanical properties of this material are listed in
Table 3.
Table 4 – The main technical specification of the
2.2. Microstructure observation MA-WF-05 equipment.
MA-WF-05 Parameters
To investigate the plastic damage evolution in LC steel, each
specimen was cut along the dashed line (see Fig. 1(a)) by using Supply voltage 220 V ± 10%
Discrete induction measurement 0.002 (T)
wire-electrode method. After grinding and polishing, each
Discrete current setting 0.001 (A)
sample was etched using 4% nitric acid, and the microstruc- Magnetizing force range ±30 kA/m
ture in the cross section of each specimen was observed by Maximum error of measurements 2%
using OM (ZEISS MAT) and scanning electron microscope (SEM Magnetizing force current ±2 (A)
EVO18). After that, OIM (Orientation Imaging MicroscopyTM ) Magnetizing induction range 2.2 (T)
system of EDAX/TSL attached to a field-emission SEM (MIRA3-
LMH) was used for the EBSD measurement, a kernel consisting
of 24 closest neighboring points was used to represent the
local misorientation level. In addition, Transmission Electron 3. Results and analysis
Microscopy (JEM-2100F) were used here to observe the evolu-
tion of dislocation structure, and the X-ray diffraction analysis 3.1. Microstructures observation by SEM
of the dislocation densities variation were also conducted on
XRD-Bruker-D8AdvanceX. Microscopic structures of LC steel were observed before and
after the tensile test. Fig. 3(a) show the SEM micrograph of the
2.3. Non-destructive evaluation original LC steel, and the microstructures are typical ferrite
and lamellar pearlite. Fig. 3(b)–(h) show the microstructures
As shown in Fig. 2, a magnetic analysis system (MA-WF-05, of LC steels corresponding to different tensile points, the void
Ukraine) was used in this research for the magnetic properties initiation and growth as well as the void coalescence and
assessment. This system consists of the hardware and soft- micro-crack propagation can be clearly observed. The tensile
ware part. A control unit was inserted in the hardware part, voids in this steel can be mainly divided into two types:
which contains a powerful current source, an analog-to-digital (1) Type I: The elliptical voids in ferrite distributed around
converter, and a single-chip PC. Meanwhile, a measurement the pearlite microstructure, which can be observed at each
unit was inserted in the hardware part, which contains of a level of plastic strain (see Fig. 3(c)–(h)). The considerable dif-
magnetization coil and an induction sensor; The MA software ference in stress-strain characteristics between the ferrite and
part was designed to operate on the computer, which could pearlite was the major cause of Type I void. Because the plastic
realize the control of hardware and process measurement. The modulus of pearlite was larger than the ferrite, when fer-
major technique parameters of this device are listed in Table 4. rite matrix was stretched into yield, the surrounding lamellar
To ensure the accuracy of this measurement, each specimen pearlite undergone much smaller deformation than the fer-
was measured for three times. rite (i.e. strain-incompatibility) [25], and gave rise to the strong
1192 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

Fig. 3 – Microstructures of the LC steel with various degrees of plastic strain.

stress-concentration at the ferrite/pearlite interface, which
lead to the void-forming around the pearlite microstructure.
(2) Type II: Many micro-voids with submicron size that
distributed along the ferrite matrix, which can be clearly iden-
tified after the specimen was stretched to the point 3 (i.e.
strain: 5.3%). Type II void was the dominant void nucleation
mechanism in this LC steel, these micro-voids tend to be
rounded rather than needle-shaped or strip shaped, mainly
due to the existence of strong potential to minimize the micro-
voids surface area, so as to decrease the surface free-energy
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199
Table 5 – The EDS spectrum of test 1.
Element Weight percentage Atomic percentage
O 8.67 24.45
S 2.43 3.41
Cl 0.63 0.81
Mn 2.21 1.81
Fe 86.06 69.52
Total 100.00
Fig. 4 – The EDS result at test 1.
and reduce the stress concentration. Besides, when the LC
steel was stretched to the point 5 (i.e. strain: 12.5%), plenty
of punctiform ‘pits’ appeared in the ferrite matrix, those ‘pits’
develop at the high plastic strain, and serve as the potential
initiation sites for micro-voids generating.
The void coalescence in this LC steel during the process
of plastic damage can be recognized in Fig. 3(d)–(f). The void
coalescence condition can be deduced as: (1) the increase of
individual void amount. (2) the enlargement of void size. (3)
the decrease of void gap. In this study, as two voids grow
and get nearer to each other, they coalesce and merge into
a single larger void (see Fig. 3(e)); The progressive formation
and propagation of micro-crack in this steel can be identified
in Fig. 3(f)–(h). The formation of micro-crack can be consid-
ered as the combination of the adjacent void. With the plastic
damage accumulation during tensile process, the emerged
micro-cracks propagate and link up into the macro-crack, and
finally lead to the rupture of the LC steel specimen. Besides,
Electronic diffraction spectroscopy (EDS) measurements indi-
cated that the S element was exist in the micro-crack (see
Fig. 3(h), Table 5 and Fig. 4), which manifests that the impurity
element could also promote the micro-crack propagation in
LC steel under the plastic damage.
Cracks morphologies and fracture surfaces of the LC steel
specimen were observed using SEM at different magnification
times. The crack extension and propagation can be recognized
at low magnification, which are shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b); the
fractographs of the LC steel are shown in Fig. 5(c), the cleav-
age surface could be portioned to two parts. In the right side,
there was a certain number of tiny dimples, and the fracture
type of this part can be concluded as ductile fracture, which
was induced by the initiation and growth of Type II voids.
In the left side, many brittle fracture facets with remarkable
river pattern were observed (see Fig. 5(d)), the fracture type of
1193
this part can be described as brittle fracture, which might be
triggered by the Type I voids as the existence of the strong
stress-concentration. Therefore, the fracture type of the LC
steel was a hybrid model that includes ductile fracture and
brittle fracture.
3.2. Microstructures observation by EBSD
The EBSD measurements were conducted on the original and
tensile LC steel specimens. The inverse pole figure (IPF) maps
are shown in Fig. 6(a)–(e). Compared with the original speci-
men, it can be observed that the color degradation inside the
grains appeared when the LC steel was stretched to the plas-
tic stage, and the degradation degree seems to be increased
with increasing tensile strain. The color degradation within
the grains in these maps manifested that the orientations of
the grains were no longer uniform and the misorientation hap-
pened as the plastic damage accumulated, especially at the
locations where the lattices possess the Euler angles (ϕ1, ˚,
ϕ2) of about (322.72◦ , 46.79◦ , 23.76◦ ), (209.56◦ , 32.23◦ , 62.85◦ ),
(25.85◦ , 27.42◦ , 68.87◦ ), and (69.19◦ , 26.04◦ , 9.51◦ ). Besides, the
image quality of the IPF maps also decreased with increasing
tensile strain, which can be clearly seen in Fig. 6(e). As the
LC steel was stretched to the Point 9 (i.e. close to failure), the
indexing rate of EBSD pattern has come down significantly,
and this was mainly due to the defects generation (e.g. void,
crack) as well as grain-boundary separation, so that the EBSD
texture matching/mapping would not be able to achieve.
Kernel average misorientation (KAM) during electron
backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis can be used to deter-
mine the local grain misorientation [13]. The results of kernel
average misorientation (KAM) are shown in Fig. 7(a)–(e). Com-
pared with the original LC steel specimen, the KAM increased
remarkably after the plastic tensile, which indicated that the
orientation relationships within grains have changed def-
initely. Generally, KAM is high in large deformed grains,
whereby the high dislocation density and lattice rotation.
Hence, the KAM can be applied as an indicator for plastic dam-
age assessment, and the resultant changes in orientation of
grains can be discerned and analyzed quantitatively.
The results of geometrically necessary dislocation density
(GND ) are shown in Fig. 7(f)–(j). The GND was calculated as
[26]: GND = 2KAM/ub, where u is the unit length, b is the mag-
nitude of the Burgers vector. The GND density of the original
LC steel was the lowest, where most of grain’s GND was below
1.40 × 1014 m−2 . With the increase of plastic strain, the GND
of the LC steel increased continuously. Compared with the
original LC steel specimen, an apparent change of the GND
map can be observed when the specimen was stretched to
the point 5 (see Fig. 7(h)), where most of grain’s GND has
exceeded 2.80 × 1014 m−2 . The geometrically necessary dislo-
cation (GND) was correlate with the lattice continuity as well
as the statistically stored dislocations (SSDs), which can be
referred to the dislocation quantity required to accommodate
a given contortion in the grain [27]. In this experiment, the
GND of LC steel increased significantly after the plastic defor-
mation, which is related to the local dislocation accumulation
introduced by the plastic strain.
The pattern quality maps of band slope (BS) were also gen-
erated in the electronic backscatter ring diffraction (EBSP).
1194 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

Fig. 5 – Fractographs of the LC steel.

Fig. 6 – The inverse pole figure (IPF) maps of the LC steel with various degrees of plastic strain.

Essentially, BS is an image quality parameter that derived from
the Hough transform, which describes the maximum intensity
gradient at the margins of the Kikuchi bands above a normal-
ized background [28]. The BS is a scalar value that are scaled
to a byte range from 0 to 255, generally, the lower the value,
the blurrier the Kikuchi band, as well as the larger deforma-
tion degree of material. The results of band slope (BS) maps are
shown in Fig. 7(k)–(o), the pattern quality of BS maps shows the
difference in the sharpness of the Kikuchi bands. The original
LC steel has relatively high BS value, where most of grain’s
BS scale are over 120 (see Fig. 7(k)), which can be associated
with the lower distortion in the crystal lattice of the origi-
nal specimen. However, with increase of accumulative plastic
strain, the BS value of the LC steel show a downward trend.
When the LC steel was stretched to the point 9, a remark-
able change of the BS map was observed, the BS scale of this
specimen decreased significantly, where most of grain’s BS
scale are below 80 (see Fig. 7(o)). This result clearly reveals
that the BS quality maps are sensitive to the state of plastic
strain in LC steel, with these scale maps, the degradation of
microstructure of this LC steel can be given in a quantitative
manner.
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199
Fig. 7 – EBSD measurements of the LC steel with various degrees of plastic strain. (a)–(e) average misorientation maps; (f)–(j)
GND density maps; (k)–(o) band slope.
3.3. Microscopic structures observation under TEM
TEM observations of this LC steel with various degrees of
strain were conducted at different magnification. The dislo-
cation shape of the original LC steel can be seen in Fig. 8(a)
and (b). Many straight dislocations line can be recognized in
the unstretched specimen, and most of them were relatively
long (greater than 0.4 ␮m). As the LC steel was stretched to the
point 1 (i.e. elastic limit), the dislocations line length did not
change too much, but the dislocation bow-out and jog have
occurred (see Fig. 8(c) and (d)), in addition, a portion of dislo-
cation with zig-zag segments structure was observed, which
indicates that the intergranular dislocation glide/slip started
prior to the initial plastic stage.
When the LC steel specimen was stretched to the point
3 (entered the plastic stage), the dislocation structure of
this steel changed significantly. The tensile strain results in
increasing of dislocation density and inhomogeneous dislo-
cation distribution, due to the dislocation loop structure has
taken place, and dislocation tangle seriously (see Fig. 8(f));
with progressing plastic strain, more complex dislocation
microstructures were developed, such as the dislocation
cell and dislocation wall (see Fig. 8(g) and (h)), upon these
microstructures, the dislocation lines are intertwined with
1195
each other, which is likely to become the obstacle that handi-
cap the dislocation movement.
In later plastic stages, (i.e. the point 7 and 9), the phe-
nomenon of dislocation pile-up occurred as well as the
dislocation nets structures developed. The dislocation nets
consist of high-density dislocation tangles, which indicates
that the sub-grain movement and dislocation glide were
severe. Furthermore, the formation of voids under tensile
stresses can be observed in Fig. 8(g), (i), and (k), those voids
appeared on both region of high dislocation density and pre-
cipitated phase vicinity, resulting from the large local shear
stress that has surpassed the fracture strength of material. By
conducting the TEM observations, the morphological changes
of dislocation line of the LC steel during the plastic tensile can
be clearly recognized.
3.4. Magnetic properties measurements of the LC steel
It was known that the LC steel has a body-centered cubic (b.c.c)
crystal lattice, which was a ferromagnetic material and can
be magnetized upon an externally imposed magnetic field.
Generally, as the external magnetic field changes periodically,
the magnetic induction intensity (B) and magnetic field inten-
sity (H) do not follow a single valued relationship, but forms
a hysteretic and closed curve, i.e. magnetic hysteresis-loop
1196 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

Fig. 8 – TEM observations of the LC steel with various degrees of strain.

[21]. The magnetic hysteresis-loop of the original LC steel the Bm = 2413 T; The magnetic hysteresis-loop of the stretch-
specimen is shown in Fig. 9(a), the Hm and Bm are the mag- ing LC steel specimen (Point 9) is shown in Fig. 9(b). It can
netization and magnetic induction at the saturation state, be observed that, after the plastic strain, the shape of the
respectively. In the original LC steel, the Hm = 33225 A/m, and magnetic hysteresis-loop changed distinctly, which reflects
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199
Fig. 9 – The measurements of magnetic hysteresis loop in LC steel before and after the tensile test.
the variation of the ferromagnetic features and properties in
material. In the stretching LC steel specimen (Point 9), the
Hm = 40418 A/m, and the Bm = 2368 T. The saturation magne-
tization Hm of the LC steel increased after the plastic tensile,
while the saturation induction Bm showed the reverse change
trend.
Magnetic parameters such as Coercivity (Hc ) and hysteresis
loop area (S) can also be collected from the above hysteresis-
loop. Coercivity (Hc ) is the external magnetic field that drive
the magnetic induction intensity back to zero (i.e. Hc (B = 0)),
which could reflect the difficulty level of the magnetization
of ferromagnetic material. In this experiment, the maximum
fluctuation of the Coercivity measurement were less than
3.20%. Fig. 10(a) shows the change of Coercivity in LC steel
specimens with various degrees of plastic strain. It can be
seen that the Hc increased sharply at the initial stage of plastic
strain (i.e. from Point 1 to Point 3, increased by 103.45%). Then,
the Hc showed a progressively increase trend (i.e. from Point 3
to Point 6, increased by 32.58%) rather than a sharp increase,
and reached the saturation value (Hc = 936 A/m) as the LC steel
was stretched to its tensile strength (Point 6, strain: 16.6%).
After that, the Hc show a slight downward trend instead of
continuing to increase. When strain increase from the 16.6%
to 24.76% (Point 9), the Hc decreased by nearly 13.45%; The
overall variation trend of the hysteresis loop area (S) was sim-
ilar to the Coercivity, which was increased firstly and then
became decreased (see Fig. 10(b)). Nevertheless, unlike Hc , the
S changes little within the strain from 2.85% (Point 2) to strain:
5.3% (Point 3).
1197
3.5. Correlation between the change of LC steel
microstructure and magnetic parameter Hc
The evolution of LC steel microstructures and its magnetic
properties change during the plastic damage process are clar-
ified in preceding Sections 3.1–3.4. By combining the results
of magnetic measurement and the microstructure observa-
tions, we can recognize that there is a correlation between
the microstructural evolution and the magnetic properties
change in LC steel. Previous study [29] showed that, in one
ferromagnetic material, the atomic magnetic moments (Ms )
are arranged in certain regions, and the organization of them
can be called as the magnetic domains. In each magnetic
domain, all Ms are aligned parallel to each other, which
can be seen in Fig. 11(a). The interface region between two
neighboring magnetic domains, where the magnetic moments
have to change orientation from one domain orientation to
another, is termed as the domain wall. A magnetization pro-
cess can be based on the displacement of domain walls.
Under the action of an external magnetic field H, the single
domain rotates towards the magnetic field direction H. As the
domain walls were moved out of the considered region, the
magnetic saturation state was reached in the field direction
(see Fig. 11(c)).
Generally, the mobility of the magnetic domain walls is
influenced by the microstructural features. The magnetic
domain walls need to overcome multifarious microstructure
obstacles during magnetization, such as the dislocations,
grain boundaries, second phases, etc. Thus, the more
1198 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199

Fig. 10 – The magnetic parameters of the LC steel with various degrees of strain. (a) Coercivity. (b) Hysteresis loop areas.

Fig. 11 – Schematic view of the magnetization process at the magnetic domain level.

microstructural defects consist in material, the more obstruc-

tion to the magnetic domain walls motion.
4. Conclusions
In this experiment, we could also find an association
In this research, the plastic damage evolution in LC steel
between the change of Hc and the dislocation microstructure.
was investigated on the basis of microstructure observation
By comparing the Figs. 8 and 10, it can be recognized that, in
and analysis. In addition, the electromagnetic technique was
this LC steel, when dislocation showed irregular straight lin-
employed to carry out the non-destructive evaluation. The
ear shape (i.e. Origin and Point 1, Fig. 8(a)–(d)), the value of Hc
main conclusions could be summarized as follows:
were relatively low (i.e. less than 300 A/m). However, when dis-
location segments get entangled to form the dislocation loop
(1) The voids initiation, growth, and coalescence with the
(i.e. Point 3, Fig. 8(e) and (f)), the Hc value increased remark-
plastic damage accumulation in the LC steel. The emerged
ably (i.e. up to 705 A/m). As the appearance of dislocation wall
micro-cracks propagated and linked up into the macro-
and dislocation net microstructures (i.e. Point 5 and Point 7,
crack, which eventually leaded to the rupture of specimen.
Fig. 8(g)–(j)), the Hc towards a peak value. The results showed
(2) With the increase of plastic strain, the kernel average mis-
that the Coercivity is sensitive to the variation of disloca-
orientation (KAM) and geometrically necessary dislocation
tion structure/density in LC steel, the formation of dislocation
density (GND ) within grains in LC steel increased contin-
wall/net structure made the domain wall unpin difficult, so
uously. Meanwhile, the band slope (BS) value as well as
that the applied magnetic field (Happl ) need to be enlarged, and
the inverse pole figure (IPF) maps quality decreased signif-
thus the Hc value increasing. Besides, the Hc value showed
icantly.
decrease in those LC steel specimens that were on the verge
(3) The plastic strain induced dislocation density increase and
of fracture (i.e. Point 8 and Point 9), though the dislocation den-
inhomogeneous dislocation distribution in LC steel. At the
sity seems to have increased instead of fallen down (i.e. Point
later plastic stages, the dislocation nets structures devel-
9, Fig. 8(k) and (l)). A possible reason may be that the large vol-
oped, which consist of high-density dislocation tangles.
umetric type flaws have formed, such as cavities and cracks,
(4) After the plastic strain, the shape of the magnetic
which can be recognized in Fig. 3(g) and (h). These defects also
hysteresis-loop changed distinctly. And, the Coercivity
could decrease the magnetic domain & wall content in ferro-
was sensitive to the variation of dislocation struc-
magnetic material, so that the Hc value decreased at the later
ture/density in LC steel, which can be used to characterize
stage of plastic strain.
the plastic damage in LC steel.
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1189–1199
Conflict of interest statement
No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this
manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for
publication.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude for projects
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China and Macau Science and Technology Develop-
ment Joint Fund (NSFC-FDCT) (No. 71861167002), and the
Tsinghua-Foshan Innovation Special Fund (TFISF), Grant No.
2018THFS0301.
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