Mechanical behavior of a compositionally graded 300M steel

In this work, a new approach for processing high strength functionally graded martensitic microstructures with improved fracture properties is presented. The functionally graded martensitic steels are composed of a hard phase at the core and a soft phase at the surface of the structure. The tensile response of the graded steels was analyzed in terms of the extended elasto-plastic transition and a high initial work hardening rate. The behavior of the graded material was modeled using a composite model in which the continuous carbon gradient is replaced with four layers of uniform carbon content.