Microstructure evolution and constitutive equations for the high-temperature deformation of 5Cr21Mn9Ni4N heat-resistant steel

The high-temperature deformation behavior of 5Cr21Mn9Ni4N heat-resistant steel was studied using a Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation test machine for high-temperature compression tests. The deformation temperatures ranged from 1273 K to 1393 K, and the strain rates ranged from 0.1 s⁻¹–10 s⁻¹. The height reductions were 20%, 40%, and 60%. The flow stress of 5Cr21Mn9Ni4N increased with increasing strain rate, whereas it decreased with increasing temperature. The high-temperature deformation of 5Cr21Mn9Ni4N began from the strain-hardening stage to the steady-state deformation stage. The characteristics of the stress–strain curves were determined through the interaction of work hardening, dynamic recovery, and dynamic recrystallization. The relationship between microstructure and processing parameters was analyzed. A set of unified viscoplastic constitutive equations based on changes in dislocation density, volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization, and grain size was established to predict deformation behavior and microstructure during a high-temperature working process. The average relative error between the calculated and experimental flow stress was 4.8%. This finding indicated that the constitutive equations could be used to predict the flow behavior of 5Cr21Mn9Ni4N accurately during high-temperature deformation.