Progress in molecular dynamics simulations of martensitic transformation

Martensitic transformation (MT) is one of the most commonly encountered transformations, existing in many engineering materials, such as steel and shape memory alloys. Optimizing the performance of these transforming materials requires a fundamental understanding about the physical processes of MT from the atom-level. In the absence of experimental information, numerical simulations are critical to the study of the transformation behaviors at their characteristic lattice length scales. This review summarized recent atomic simulation works on martensitic materials. The MT behaviors in shape memory alloys as well as their size effect were first discussed. Then, we analyzed the phase transformation in structural metals, especially their interaction with plastic deformations under extreme compression. Finally, the existing problems and prospects of the related research were presented.