Stress induced martensitic transition in a molecular dynamics model of α-iron

A structural transition bcc→hcp induced by uniaxial tensile stress is observed by molecular dynamics simulation using an interatomic potential function for α-iron derived by the embedded atom method. The transformation is reversible with hysteresis. The deformation mechanism for the forward transition is found to be different from that for the backward transition. The critical stress required for the transition decreases with increasing temperature, as is expected.