Investigation of shot-peened austenitic stainless steel 304L by means of magnetic Barkhausen noise

Different shot peening conditions were applied to an austenitic stainless steel AISI 304L in order to transform austenite to martensite α′ at different depths. Magnetic Barkhausen noise measurements performed on this steel reveal a correlation between the strength of the signal and the depth of the treatment. The combined effect of the volume fraction of martensite and the residual stress in martensite determined using X-ray diffraction analysis were found to be responsible for the evolution of the Barkhausen noise response. Using tensile plastic deformation, the residual stress in martensite was changed, giving rise to a strong increase of the Barkhausen noise activity. This variation was correlated to a modification of the sign and amplitude of the residual stress in the martensite phase. Directional measurements of the Barkhausen noise revealed the anisotropy of the residual stresses induced by the tensile plastic deformation. It is concluded that the Barkhausen noise activity recording could lead to the determination of the residual stresses in martensite induced by shot peening processes.

Research highlightsThe results and the conclusions drawn in this paper are important for the scientific community and especially for scientist who are looking for method to characterize phase transformations in metallic materials. We show that Barkhausen noise measurements can be successfully used to monitor strain-induced martensite in austenitic stainless steels.