HIERARCHICAL MODELING OF THE MECHANICAL-BEHAVIOR OF HIGH-SPEED STEELSAS LAYER-STRUCTURED PARTICULATE MMCS

High Speed Steels (HSS) produced by elcctro-slag remelting call be vie wed as particle reinforced Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) consisting o f alternating layers of high and low inclusion volume fraction. These phase arrangements require specific models to be used in analytical an d numerical studies of the elastoplastic response of HSS. In the prese nt study, a hierarchical micro-meso-macro approach is discussed, which combines the Multi-Particle Effective Field Method (MEFM) for describ ing: the matrix-inclusion topology at the microscale with an extended lamination theory for handling the layered geometry at tile mesoscale. In addition, a Finite Element based two-dimensional method is present ed, in which HSS is modeled as a material with a graded microstructure . Tile obtained results are discussed in terms of overall elastoplasti c behavior and of damage relevant microscale fields.