Tensile deformation characteristics of bulk ultrafine-grained austenitic stainless steel produced by thermal cycling

Deformation microstructures of bulk ultrafine-grained austenitic AISI 304L stainless steels were analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction. Samples with grain sizes below 500 nm showed transition from grain-scale deformation to the collective phenomenon of shear banding. This was assisted by strain-induced grain rotation and coalescence. This phenomenon was suppressed in samples with a bimodal grain size distribution (maxima at ∼650 and ∼1400 nm) due to deformation-induced martensite formation, yielding high tensile strength and ductility (1348 MPa ultimate tensile strength at 0.36 max. true strain).