Hadfield steel is well known for its high strain hardening. However, the mechanism of high strain hardening is still not completely understood. There is a striking paucity of single crystal studies that would allow a superior understanding of the fundamental deformation mechanisms by circumventing the complications associated with grain boundaries. With this need, the present study is aimed at studying Hadfield steel in single and polycrystalline forms.; For this purpose, the stress-strain behavior of Hadfield steel (Fe, 12.3% Mn, 1.0 C, in wt.%) single crystals studied for selected orientations ([001], [1¯11], [1¯23], [1¯44] and [1¯5 10]), and for different interstitial contents under tension and compression in the temperature range of 113 K to 293 K. The effect of twinning, slip and stacking faults was revealed in terms of the critical stress levels, and the strain-hardening coefficients. Based on the experimental observations, a model is presented that predicts the orientation, stress direction and solid solution content effects on the critical stress for initiating twinning. Nitrogen was also added to Hadfield steel. Nitrogen was not only proven to be a more effective strengthening agent than carbon in Hadfield steel but also it served as a better trigger for twinning. Stress-strain responses of Hadfield steel were modeled using a viscoplastic self consistent approach. A unique hardening formulation was proposed in the constitutive model incorporating length scales associated with spacing between twin lamellae and grain boundaries. The responses of single crystals and polycrystals with different grain sizes were captured closely with the model. Based on simulations, it was possible to explain unequivocally the upward curvature in stress-strain curves of Hadfield steel.; A similar study on the 316L stainless steel single crystals indicated that the addition of nitrogen lead austenitic stainless steel to exhibit deformation mechanisms, orientation and temperature dependence similar to Hadfield steel. Therefore, it is concluded that the mechanical behavior of fcc high strength materials, and the underlying mechanisms responsible for their behavior are universal, irrespective of the way in which the high strength levels are achieved.
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