Twin-induced grain boundary engineering for 316 austenitic stainless steel

By twin-induced grain boundary engineering utilizing optimized one-step thermomechanical processing with 3% pre-strain and subsequent annealing at 1240 K for 72 h, a very high frequency of coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries (86%) was introduced into type 316 austenitic stainless steel. The resulting steel showed a remarkably high resistance to intergranular corrosion during ferric sulfate–sulfuric acid tests. A CSL frequency of over 82% may result in a very low percolation probability of random boundary networks in per-threshold and a remarkable suppression of intergranular deterioration during twin-induced grain boundary engineering of austenitic stainless steels.