Orientation-dependent deformation on 316L stainless steel induced by high-current pulsed electron beam irradiation

Electron backscatter diffraction has been used to study the severe plastic deformation occurring in the surface layer of an AISI 316L stainless steel treated by high-current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB). The exact nature of the triggered mechanisms was orientation-dependent. In particular, twinning was activated in grains having 〈1 1 1〉 orientation close to the sample normal direction while high misorientation deformation gradients were created by intense crystallograplic slip in some other grains. The nature of the different deformation mechanisms and their orientation dependence are discussed both from theoretical and experimental points of views by considering the biaxial quasi-static thermal stresses generated during the HCPEB bombardment.