**6. Conclusions**

The global and local deformation and damage behavior of modified 16MnCrS5 steel using in situ experimental and crystal plasticity-based numerical simulation model is analyzed. Recorded EBSD data were used to evaluate the local microstructure of the material. The data were then adopted to run full phase crystal plasticity simulations in DAMASK with calibrated material model parameters. In situ tensile tests were carried out on specially prepared specimens with incremental data collection for different inclusions distributed within the ferrite matrix. A images were processed using digital image correlation-based tool to obtain microstrain measurements. The damage initiation, propagation, and strain localization around a large MnS inclusion were analyzed in detail. Other smaller inclusions tracked in this study helped in understanding the local material behavior. The conclusions of this extensive study are as follows:

1. The non-metallic inclusions are heterogeneously sized and heterogeneously distributed within the ferrite matrix. The inclusions are usually small (size ~2 μm)

and elliptical (aspect ratio < ~2), with the exceptions of some extremely large (>10 μm up to 50 μm) and elongated (aspect ratio > 5) inclusions that are also present in the matrix. These large and elongated inclusions play a critical role in defining the limiting formability of the steel under consideration.


**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, F.Q. and M.U.; methodology, F.Q. and M.U.; software, F.Q. and M.U.; validation, F.Q., V.E., M.K. and S.G.; formal analysis, F.Q., M.U., V.E. and F.H.; investigation, V.E., M.K., F.H. and S.G.; resources, F.Q., V.E., M.K. and S.G.; data curation, F.Q. and M.U.; writing— original draft preparation, F.Q., M.U. and S.G.; writing—review and editing, F.Q., M.U., S.G. and U.P.; visualization, F.Q., M.U., S.G. and U.P.; supervision, U.P. and S.G.; project administration, S.G. and U.P.; funding acquisition, F.Q., S.G. and U.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Industrielle Gemeinschafts-Forschung (IGF) under project number 20429 BG, titled "Nichtmetallische Einschlüsse".

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data are not publicly available but can be shared with interested researchers privately upon request.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors acknowledge the DAAD Faculty Development for Candidates (Balochistan), 2016 (57245990)-HRDI-UESTP's/UET's funding scheme in cooperation with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) for sponsoring the stay of Faisal Qayyum at IMF TU Freiberg. This work is conducted within the DFG-funded collaborative research group TRIP Matrix Composites (SFB 799). The authors gratefully acknowledge the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the financial support of the SFB 799. The authors also acknowledge the support of Martin Diehl and Franz Roters (MPIE, Düsseldorf) for their help regarding the functionality of DAMASK.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
