Serrated flow behavior in AL6XN austenitic stainless steel

Serrated flow behavior of the AL6XN austenitic stainless steel has been investigated at different temperatures and strain rates. The results show the serrated flow, peak/plateau in flow stress and negative strain rate sensitivity appearing in tensile deformation of the AL6XN steel at 773–973 K and 3.3 × 10−5–3.3 × 10−3 s−1 (excluding 873 K, 3.3 × 10−5 s−1), suggesting the occurrence of dynamic strain aging (DSA). The activation energy for type-A and -(A + B) serrations was calculated to be 304 kJ/mol and diffusion of substitutional solutes, such as chromium and molybdenum is considered as the mechanism of serrated flow. TEM observations further revealed a typical planar slip mode in the regime of DSA of the deformed AL6XN steel.