The grain size and special boundary dependence of corrosion resistance in 304 austenitic stainless steels

• The cryogenic cold deformation facilitated grain refinement and reduced fraction of CSL.
• The grain refinement accelerated sensitization, even though the ratio of CSL increase.
• Higher DOS reduced corrosion resistance of 304 austenitic stainless steel.

The effect of cold rolling temperature on grain boundary characteristic of the 304 austenitic stainless steels in thermomechanical treatment was examined. Comparing to cold rolling at room temperature and annealing, the cryogenic cold deformation and annealing promoted grain refinement and reduced fraction of coincidence site lattice. Although more coincidence site lattice restrained sensitization, the grain refinement accelerated sensitization. The sensitization deteriorated corrosion resistance of 304 austenitic stainless steel obtained by thermomechanical treatment.